The Fires of Albion
by Lightning Rays
Summary: Walking into a store with no name leads best friends Beck, Alex and Rose to find a look-alike nether portal from Minecraft. They went in and when they learn this is the Fable universe, the eldest goes to find Sparrow is just about to leave and ask why they're here. This blind seer woman, Theresa, informs them they're Heroes. {Reaver/OC Alex/Sparrow Garth/Hammer at some point. .-.}
1. Read The Signs

{A/N: Hey there reader! If you're reading this then you're probably Al or Erin. I'll go over a few things, this story is absolutely and utterly _fiction_ Fable, Fable II and Fable III belongs to Lionhead, I own myself and any characters I may throw in at times. Sparrow is a female, then there's the prince. Beck's the Hero of Knowledge; Alex is the Hero of Kindness while Rose is the Hero of Melody. Got it? Good! Again own nothing. But enjoy mah bby's! :D

UPDATE! 12/5/13:

I redid this a bit, I added a bit at the beginning. ~Ray.}

* * *

_A long time ago, in the land of America there-_

Well I wouldn't say a long time, maybe about 17 years ago.

_All right, about seventeen long years ago-_

They weren't all that long, you know.

_-Seventeen not-so-long years ago…_

Maybe it was seventeen and a half years..?

_Are you going to interrupt me every time I start a new sentence?_

Perhaps if you started it correctly, I wouldn't mind at all. But the amount of years it was is how old our main character is.

_Fine, how old is the main character?_

Seventeen and a half years old.

_Okay, let me start this again. A not-so-long time ago, which could also be stated as seventeen or so years ago, our main character was born._

Where was she born again?

_I was getting there. Our main character, Rebecca, was born in the small town of Green Bay, Wisconsin._

Oh yeah! That one cheese-head state thingy, yeah I remember!

_CAN YOU NOT INTERRUPT ME EVERY-_

WELL PERHAPS IF YOU STATED THE STORY CORRECTLY I WOULDN'T HAVE TO STOP YOU.

_YOU KNOW YOU'RE SUCH A GIT I HATE THAT YOU'RE MY CO-NARRATOR WHEN ALL YOU DO IS MESS UP THINGS._

ME MESS UP THINGS? YOU'RE THE ONE PUTTING OFF THE STORY SO OUR WRITER CAN THINK OF WAYS TO START THIS!

_HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT ME..!_

SAY NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH? I THINK NOT!

* * *

Hello, my dear readers. Apologies on the awful narrators, they have been sacked. I'm here to introduce the first narrator, who was on to something before they were interrupted. The prologue will resume in a moment.

* * *

Seventeen years ago, in the land of America, our main character was born. The character you may want to write down if this is for a class, though the writer doubts that will ever happen. Her name was Rebecca meaning to tie up in Hebrew. She was born to Carter and Amelia, with a big brother Nicholas. And I will skip seventeen years ahead. She was, well quite obviously; seventeen. She finished her junior year at her high school, and it was June of 2014, and yes she was over seventeen and a half years old. At this point in her life, she was finishing her driving classes. She could now drive herself and one friend, and of course a family member. By this point she also had a job and she finally felt like her life was starting after so long of doing nothing…

"There is no way in _hell_ I'd ever make cookies with you and your boyfriend, Rosie," I responded to one of my best friends as I pulled on a plain black top and a striped cardigan I got for my birthday a few months ago. My hair was down, and a small blonde part on the right of my head has only been this color for about two hours when I did it earlier today. With jeans and combat boots on the bottom, I just slipped on my bracelets and ponytail.

"Please, Beck? It was super fun last time!" she tried to reassure me, but it wasn't working.

"Absolutely not. You two were absolutely _adorable_ all by your lonesome, so I don't need to ruin it with my loneliness, do I?" I responded, holding my phone back up to my ear.

"Like I said, 'If you want a boyfriend gET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND GO GET ONE!'" she yelled and I scoffed, "As if that's easy, you git! You're like a guy magnet! What do I feed them, how often do I walk them? I don't know how to maintain a boyfriend." I brushed my hair through once again, and walked downstairs and waited for her to pick me up.

"They're not like a pet, you dork." she laughed, and I heard one of my other friends talking in the background, "What is Jones muttering about now?" I inquired, grabbing my Union Jack backpack off the table and setting my broken lanyard inside.

"I'm NOT Jones, Rebecca!" the mentioned girl yelled, and took over the phone. "And besides, he's _fictional._ Got it? Good." I checked my bag a few times making sure I had my EOS, my journal and a few writing utensils. I grabbed my wallet out of my backpack for school, and slipped it inside the bag. "So what if they're fictional? You know your otp is never going to happ-"

"REBECCA, DON'T EVEN START WITH ME."

"ALEXANDRA, I THINK I DO NEED TO."

"CALL ME ALEXANDRA ONE MORE TIM-"

"YOU MEAN LIKE YOU CALL ME REBECCA?"

"IT'S NOT THE SAME."

"IT IS SO THE SAME."

"SHUT UP AND GIVE ME MY PHONE!" Rose interrupted, and there was a loud noise like Alex yelling to take the phone back. "Wait outside, Becky. We'll be there in a minute or two," and with that, she hung up. I frowned slightly and put my phone into my cardigan's pocket.

I walked over to the door after giving my pet, Whiskers, a firm hug much against his will. "Love you, bud!" I called when I closed the door. My phone rang, and I looked down at the caller ID. It was the guy that I set Alex up with a few days ago.

"Hey, Oliver! How are you?" I greeted happily, flipping over a strap on my backpack.

"I'm great, Becca... But listen, about the date with Alexandra- I don't think I like her." he reported honestly.

I scoffed lightly, and I mentally remembered to smack him the next time I see him, "You don't like her!? What's wrong with her! She's beautiful, she's nice! She's got huge... Tracts of land!" I responded and silently laughed at the Monty Python reference.

"She's got what?"

"TRACTS OF LAND."

"Land...?"

"Her father owns the biggest tracts of open land in Britain!"

"But I don't want land-"

"Listen Alex-"

"Oliver."

"Oliver- we live in a bloody swamp; we need all the land we can get!"

"We don't live in a swamp, Becca! What are you talking about?"

"_CAN A GIRL NOT MAKE A MONTY PYTHON REFERENCE WITHOUT BEING QUESTIONED AROUND HERE._"

"No," he responded, "You can't. I don't like Monty Pytho-"

Cutting him off with a loud gasp I replied, "WHY ARE WE FRIENDS?!"

"You didn't let me finish!"

"WELL YOU LOT JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE, AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE NICE ENOUGH TO HANDLE ALEX, BUT CLEARLY NOT. GOOD DAY, SIR."

"But Becca-"

"I SAID GOOD DAY!" I hung up the phone with an annoyed huff, and stepped off the front porch. A few seconds later, Rose's.. dad's truck pulled into the driveway...? I walked over the sidewalk and through a few patches of grass when I reached Rose's car. I opened up the car to the front seat and slid in, knocking Alex over a seat and shut the door behind me.

"So what's up?" Rose asked as she backed out and drove up the hill of my street. "Uhm, not much... But you're using your dad's truck?" I asked with a smile. "My brother was at practice, and mom was out with the boys so I took the truck. Besides, this thing is frickin' fun to drive!" I nodded silently, "I see."

I looked over to see her wearing a blue ruffle tank, and a black blazer. I never realized until this moment that we had the same jeans, but a bit different style of boots. On Alex's lap sat two bags, hers and Rose's. I noticed it held a few buttons she's had for the _longest_ time.

While noticing the driver, I also noticed the girl sitting between us. She was wearing her usual 'stop it, Rebecca, these are comfy' jeans, I could make out an outline of a cat on her t-shirt from the not-covered part of her _noir_ sweatshirt. She also had on black shoes we drew an album cover from Green Day on.

"Oliver doesn't want another date with Alex." I stated sadly, while the mentioned shot her fist up in the air, "AW YISS." I furrowed my brows together and held a questioning look, "What are you yissing for?"

"Oh my God, Rebecca, he was so _boring_."

"Seriously?"

"_Seriously._"

I frowned in return, patting her hair comfortingly. "Sorry, dude. I thought he was fun to me."

"Yeah, to you." As I looked down in shame, I noticed I'd received a new message. "Oh look, it's from Oliver; maybe he wants to beg for forgiveness?"

"As if," Alex replied and poked my phone to answer.

"Yellow?" I asked, as I held it on speaker phone.

"Hey, Becca."

"Here to apologize?"

"Actually, I'm here to finish my sentence; I don't like Monty Python, I _love_ Monty Python. I knew about the tracts of land after you said it. Did you actually expect me to not to know about it?" He inquired and I looked over to Al with a slight frown, and sadish expression.

"Kind of... Sorry..? But wait, then why don't you like Alex?" I asked back, and Rose got onto the highway, turning down her music.

"It was quite obvious she wasn't interested; and besides I've already got my mind set on someone." Oliver replied and I shook my head.

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place? I didn't have to set you up with her,"

"I don't think you understand..."

"I do understand. Tell me her name and I'll get her for you."

"Fine. You ready for her name?"

"Go ahead."

He paused and breathed, saying a three-syllable word, "Rebecca."

At first I was confused, and I replied, "What?" then Alex poked my arm. "He means you, Becky." With my eyes open as wide as they almost could, I glanced over to Rose and Alex, then talked back into the phone, "Is it true, Oliver? Do you mean me?" "Yes, gosh you're so hard to get through to." "Am not! And is that why? I mean after the tracts of land?"

"I don't care about the tracts of land; I'd much rather sing-"

"STOP THAT, STOP THAT. THERE'S NO SINGING WHILE I'M AROUND." I received a laugh in response, then a simple question, "So will you go out with me, Becca?" I gave a soft sigh, then nodded. I stopped once I realized he couldn't see me. "Of course, Oliver." I looked up from my phone after that, stopping once I realized we were at the mall.

"Oh, hey. I'll call you back later... Alex, Rose and I are going to the mall." "All right, have fun." I hung up, looking up to see Rose had parked, and the two were staring at me. I high-fived the two. "AFTER SEVENTEEN YEARS FINALLY. GOSH."

I smiled, and the three of us went into the store.

* * *

"I mean, seriously, Al. Why would I ever have Reaver shoot you again?" I inquired loudly, walking through the mall with my bestest friends.

"Our _dear_ Alex thinks it's fun to annoy him," Rose, piped in. The two fixed their thick-rimmed glasses back onto their noses and I shook my head softly.

"The first time she did it like two years ago, she pushed so many buttons and he just kinda shot her."

"No offense, Lex, but you kind of deserved it." Rose added apathetically. "She totally did." I agreed and Alex cut us both off with a snort. "Oh _puh-lease_ guys. I could have made it way worse for that pirate." I walked over to _Auntie Annie's_ and ordered myself pretzel sticks and a red slushie. The other two got around the same thing, but a blue slushie instead of red.

We continued our journey and we stumbled across my favorite store, _Hot Topic. _I only had about 20 bucks with me currently, so I'll probably just get a few pins and a new lanyard since the other one I had was broken, sadly.

Rose was getting new suspenders because she thought they'd go great with the outfit she was wearing, Alex a new phone case. About twenty minutes later, I picked out a Doctor Who lanyard, Alex got her case bearing some anime I wasn't familiar with, and Rose got herself striped suspenders.

At the checkout, I pulled out a few of the pins and set them on the counter. Rose had enough at home as it was, but she got one and attached it to her lanyard that held her keys. I added mine, too and the three of us walked out of the store.

I threw the empty cups and stuff into the garbage, throwing away my broken lanyard and re-clipping all of my other necessities on my new lanyard and attaching the new pins. Immediately after, Rose pointed to a new shop near the one we walked out of.

"I wonder what they're selling in there?" Rose asks quietly, looking up at the sign. There was paper over the name, so we weren't able to see what it was In one of the large display windows it held up a sign with 'OPEN' in large letters.

"...Can we go inside?" Rose inquires, looking over to Alex. The latter and I exchanged glances quickly and I shrugged. "I guess we can go in." I replied loosely.

"U-um guys… I don't think we should go in. There isn't even a name on this store," Alex interjects.

"There's an open sign in a window," Rose reassured, walking towards said window.

"But it doesn't look safe… I-it could fall on us, and we could die. And I left my computer on and my brothers are at home and I don't think they want to see what I wrote because it's not safe for anyone to see except for me and I think we should just go home." She rambles, and I shook my head heavily as I walked over to Rose.

"Al," I stated softly, "We'll be fine, dude. C'mon, be a hero and make Alfie proud~."

Not-so-lightly Al slaps my arm, walking over by Rose and I. "S-shut up, Beilschmidt." I giggled in response as the three of us walked into the store.


	2. We're What?

{A/N: Mainly for Al, I changed the names and didn't update it you are Alex, Erin is Rose and I'm Beck. Awesome? Great! Goo! ~Ray}

* * *

I stared up at the ceiling, not seeing a single thing in the store. Rose _did_ have a point; there was an open sign in the window. And Alex and I were dumb enough to follow her in. In the back, there was this changing area, and I walked to the last stall, popping it open.

I stared wide-eyed into the stall as I said, "U-um! Rose and the other one! Can you guys come in here please?" I'm guessing the desperation in my voice caused them to come over rather quickly.

"I-is it just me o-or do you notice s-something weird in that s-stall..?" Alex asked, looking over to Rose.

"It looks like the nether from Minecraft."

I nodded. "Looks like it, do you think we'll get to the nether by walking in!?" I scurried over to it, touching the outside. Definitely not obsidian, it's just wall. I reached out my hand to touch it and it zapped me. I reeled back, bumping into Rose who was directly behind me.

"…Can we go in?" Rose inquires quietly behind me.

I smiled, the two of us looking back to Al who was apprehensive about even stepping into the stall.

"Are you going to come with us peaceably?" I ask.

Rose adds, "Or do we have to resort to other things?"

"Beck, seriously. I don't think we should go any further. These sorts of things don't just _happen._" I glance boredly back to Rose and we nod.

The two of us grab one of Alex's arms, and drag her over to the portal-thing.

"Geronimo!" Rose and I yelled as we jumped in, while Alex kicked and struggled as she tried to make us let go of her. …With no luck.

When we reached the other side, Rose and I were slightly disappointed that it wasn't the nether. However, we didn't have any iron axes or anything to protect us. What it was that we found, I wasn't expecting at all. At first glance one might assume it was merely grass some rocks and a few caravans. But me? I know better. I know _exactly_ where we were.

From being so shocked, Rose and I let go of Alex, causing her to fall on her face.

"G-guys, I… I think I know," I attempted to say, most of it coming out in gibberish.

"Know what?" Alex continued not even bothered, looking up from her spot on the ground.

"I _know_ where we are."

In the distance, I saw a bridge and a gate. Two figures were on the bridge with another one pacing around. It was so low on the ground; I was guessing it was a child.

"We're in the Gypsy camp. Fable II," I stated, and Alex sat up silently.

"No friggin' way," Rose exclaimed.

"No, Elliot's not born yet."

She frowned and huffed, offering a hand to help Alex up.

"A-and that's Theresa and Sparrow," I pointed out, throwing up a free hand to gesture to the bridge, "Come on guys, we have to stop them."

I walked forward, and the other two trailed behind me. I walked under an opening in the fence, sprinting over to Sparrow's caravan. Uncomfortably catching my breath, I waited for her to walk over by us. Rose walked over first, followed by Al, who was checking out the surroundings.

"I dunno, man, but without Reaver here this place is pretty cool."

"Shut it, Jones."

Rose sighed from between us. "Will you two shut it?! She's walking over."

Now, from Sparrow's point of view, three female girls dressed in odd clothing may seem a bit surprising. But she'd been through much odder things in her years.

"Who are you?" Sparrow asks timidly, the dog behind her stopping at the sight of us.

I shrugged as I looked over to the two. I stepped forward casually, waving to the girl, "Hi there, uhm… Sparrow? I'm Beck; these are my friends, Alex and Rose. After you grab some things from your truck, would you mind if we had a chat with you and your friend Theresa?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, raised an eyebrow then nodded. "All right, give me a moment then."

A sword and crossbow attached to her back, Sparrow led us over to Theresa. "I see you're ready, Sparrow. And who are your friends?" the milky-eyed woman asked, shifting ever-so-slightly in her stance.

"I'm Beck, and these are my friends Alex and Rose."

Theresa released a small grin, and continued. "Ah, we can cross off three Heroes from our list. It appears they've found you instead."

I had a grin on my face so wide I couldn't feel my face for a few seconds. I looked over to Rose, who had pretty much the same expression. Al had a small smile, but mainly because of the fact she gets to be called something Alfred loves so dearly.

"No way! We're Heroes?!"

Alex, from behind, added, "We're _what?_"

"Heroes, gemma." Rose replied happily.

"We've no time for chatting. Come with me." Theresa interrupted, and she walked slowly out of the door after a man from above us yelled 'open the gate'.

From a bag she was carrying over her shoulder, she produced four seals. She handed one to Sparrow, one to me, another to Alex and the last to Rose. It was a strange seal with four spikes surrounding the outsides. Luckily, it was small enough to fit in the bag on my shoulder.

"It's a powerful artifact," Theresa stated. "The kind of which all Heroes once carried. It will grant you access to places others cannot go," we continued our journey, crossing over a bridge. "It will allow me to talk to you… When necessary."

That bit of information only made Al frown. As we got near the cliff, she continued. "Look down towards the lake."

In the distance, there was a small building in the middle of the lake, "The seal will allow you to enter that tomb. In its darkest depths lies the chamber of fate. When you four come out again, you will be stronger… Much stronger, now go."

We exchanged glances, and I shrugged, leading the three on our journey. Rose complained that she'll get her clothes wet. Luckily, we didn't carry anything extra with us and Al hid our other belongings where we arrived.

I knew the tomb as well as the back of my hand; it'll be a piece of cake. Then the fact that I had no weapons ran across my mind. However, if I recall correctly, there will be a Rusty Mace in a hidden area of the cave.

And that was _not_ hard to find at all.


	3. So Much Walking

{A/N: Omc, third chapter already aw yiss. This one was really long and it took me like three hours. xD I'm so tired now. But I'm up to 5,321 words on my document about it! Enjoy peeps! ~Ray.}

About a half hour later, I found myself with plus a Rusty Mace. I've killed off four and a half beetles, of course with the help of Sparrow. I yawned quietly, as we neared the Chamber of Fate.

_"Behind these broken doors lies the Heroes Guild."_ Theresa said through the seal, which none of us have gotten used to by now.

_"For centuries, this academy trained the most supremely gifted sons and daughters of Albion, bound together by the blood that flowed in their veins. Once worshiped by the people of Albion, the great Heroes came to be feared, and hated. No man alive today remembers the night the Guild burned. And now it lies forgotten. But the Heroes are not all gone."_ The four of us neared the center where light glowed brightly on a certain spot… Yes, almost like… A spotlight.

"You are here, Rebecca. And that same heroic blood runs through your veins. The Guild has reacted to you, step into the light; learn the true power of heroes."

Immediately after that was said, the four of us walked up to the 'spotlight' and took our turns walking into the light. When it was my turn I cautiously walked up and stepped in. I will freely admit it, it hurt _so _much.

But seriously, Al wasn't even fazed a bit; I think it was just Rose and I who thought it was painful.

_"Your blood is awakening,"_ she continued and I stepped on the other side waiting for only Sparrow. And _she_ felt even _less_ than Al, proving it's possible that she could fall from a castle window and survive.

"You can now channel the experience you have collected into Strength, Skill, or Will. Strength improves combat in hand to hand weapons. Skill allows you to shoot faster and with greater accuracy. Will gives you control on the forces of magic. Before you is a Cullis gate, use your magic to start it."

Even without the start-up thing on Fable II, I was able to pick an ability. Of course I picked magic, what are you, an idiot? Since most of the experience went to Sparrow, I learned Inferno, only sad because I wanted to learn blades.

BECAUSE BLADES ARE AWESOME, M'KAY!?

Standing side-by-side again, I lifted up my left hand and tried as hard as I could to release a fire spell. When I looked up, I saw that Sparrow already got hers to work.

"Think of the fire itself and let it go to your finger-tips. Trust me, it'll work."

Well uhm, okay. I closed my eyes slightly, making sure I was still facing the flit-switch.

Fire.

It makes little crackling noises that sound _great_ with jazz and rain in the background… So classy. Becky, stay on task. All right, fire is usually orange, red or yellow… It varies in color sometimes unless it's like a blow torch, then it's blue and purple. I mentally made myself an image of a fire, the colors and the sounds and did exactly what Sparrow said.

Then suddenly my hand started to feel very hot, it felt like it was just burning!

Like it was on… fire.

I opened my eyes again to see a small flame produced from my palm. "D-dudes look at this! This is so awesome!"

"Point it towards the flit-switch and we'll do it together." I heard Sparrow say to me and I nodded. I pointed my hand towards the switch, thought of fire again and threw it.

It made an odd noise I could only replicate as a glass hitting another glass. I shook my hand a few times and blew on it trying to cool it down.

"Well done. Now you are ready to begin your journey. Use the Cullis Gate."

We all walked up to the intimidating Cullis Gate, and stood on it.

"Are we supposed to say some-" Alex started to say until we vanished and found ourselves back in Bower Lake. It was on top of a rock.

"We'll be back here later," I say casually until I look around us.

"Beetles!" Rose screams and hides behind me.

"Rosie, don't be such a baby. Since Alex is using the Mace, you can use the Longsword, yes?"

she unsheathed it from Sparrow, crushing a beetle with the flat side. I shrugged silently, recharging my Inferno ability, and Sparrow using her Shock ability. A few minutes later, they were all dead. I wiped a few drops of sweat off of my forehead and smiled.

_"Make your way to Bowerstone, I will meet you there."_ Theresa stated, and the four of us walked down the winding-rock-formation-thing.

We followed the dirt-covered pathway, stopping only to kill a few beetles. About halfway there, Sparrow started to hum an _extremely_ familiar tune. _"Down by the reeds, down by the reeds. Swim the sirens of Oakvale, out to the seas._" I sang softly, smiling over to Sparrow, who sung with me.

_"Down by the reeds, down by the reeds. Float the souls left unbroken by white Balverines. Down by the reeds. Night-blooming weeds embrace those who go dancing, in sad moonlit dreams."_ Rose started to sing along when she figured out the words.

_"Nobody knows, nobody sees. The sirens of Oakvale. Down by the reeds." after _that it ended our little tune on a grand note. Al just groaned loudly from behind us.

"Stop being so glum," I retorted.

"Why are we using glum?" she asks back and I laugh a bit as we get nearer and nearer to our destination.

"I like the word glum, you seem glum."

"Can we stop saying glum?"

"No glum is a fun word."

"Glum is ruined thanks to you."

"Glum is now awesome thanks to me."

She was silent for a moment until she stated quietly, "…I concur."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, okay I'm done. No more glum."

"Danke~."

"De rien~."

When we neared our destination, I was the only one who knew what was going to happen. However, I wanted it to be a surprise to the other three.

"Excuse me, sir?" I called up to a man who was on top of a post near the entrance of Bowerstone Road. And just so I didn't sound out of place, I used my infamous English accent.

"Apologies, ladies… But no one can get to Bowerstone as long as Thag the Bandit is alive." He laughed slightly, scratching the back of his neck. "If you're in an 'urry like, you can always take care of Thag yourselves!"

I nodded then called back up. "All right! Thanks for the advice!"

The man had a questioning look on his face, but probably didn't want to deal with some girls trying to defeat a huge bandit and his men.

As we walked off, Theresa spoke to us. _"So- the way to Bowerstone is closed. Go take care of Thag- all of you, you must be able to get through and defeat them to get to Bowerstone. No doubt they are at his camp near Bower Lake."_

I vaulted off of a few cliffs, the other three behind me. Now killing _people_ is really going to screw me up. When we got to the bottom, Sparrow's dog began to bark at us and I followed him to a treasure chest. I had Sparrow unlock it.

I totally forgot what was in it, but now I remember. "Oh it's an assassin's coat! Can I have it, Sparrow?" I ask with a smile, holding out my grabby hands.

She nods silently holding out the article of clothing to me. I took off my bag, slipping the coat over my t-shirt and putting the bag back on.

"I feel awesome," the others chuckled lightly, as I sneaked away first to go to Thag's camp. "Away, my minions!" I almost yelled, but it was only loud enough for the girls to hear me, luckily not anyone in the camp. They laughed as we walked in, expecting nothing major to happen.

When we walked through the 'doors' Theresa spoke up, _"Keep your wits about you, it may be a trap,"_

I scoffed slightly, whispering to the other girls, "Dun worry, girlies. I got dis."

"Beck, don't you think it's kind of quiet in here? For a bandit camp?" Alex inquires quietly and I shook my head.

"Like I said, I got dis." I remembered the gold trail as if it was the game. "Draw your weapons, girls."

They all acted surprise until I shushed them. "Draw the weapons," I repeated more firmly, stepping across the line.

A male from one of the carts yelled, "Look out, it's an ambush!"

I prepared my fire ball as Sparrow got her shock ready and Alex and Rose stood back-to-back with their swords out. Two males dropped from seemingly nowhere and walked closer to us with their swords pointed at us.

Sparrow threw the first ball of energy at one of the bandits and I threw it at the other one. Alex and Rose ran up and slashed and poked at them, retreating when more came from the other side. Sparrow and I delivered back to back bits of energy, and Alex and Rose finishing it with a sword fight. After what seemed like forever, the bandits were all lying on the floor, groaning in agony.

As Sparrow's dog barked at the door, Thag kicked it open, the teal wood breaking and flying on the porch of his cabin. He released a scream as soon as he walked out, kicking Sparrow's dog to the right of us.

"No one defies Thag the Impatient! I'll gut you myself! I'll give you three seconds to get ready. No wait, two! Oh soddit! Aaarrrggh!" and with that, the man walk down the stairs and charged at us.

Since I was the closest, I moved out of the way, Sparrow, Alex and Rose following in my example. Not ready for any of us to move, the man fell to the floor in an instant.

Releasing fire, shock and swords at him it didn't take him long to stop. Sparrow gave the final hit, and the man lay dead at our feet.  
_"Well done, I will tell the guards of Thag's death. With the threat removed, the road to Bowerstone will surely open." _Theresa told us and we cheered, putting away our weapons and high fiving happily.

"Meet me in Bowerstone, by the clock tower. There is something you must see."

We laughed as we trekked back to the Bowerstone road, the man's conversation something along the lines of, "Apparently someone killed off that Bandit leader, so it's safe now."

I winked at him as we strolled past. "Don't mention it~." I giggled at the man's expression, following Sparrow into Bowerstone Market.

I've had my fair share of Bowerstone, so I was used to it all. The walk itself was about twenty-seven hours on foot, so about twelve hours in we stopped and made camp. There were many other travelers around us, mainly traders and we kept a close eye on them. After a solid eight-hour sleep, we woke up and began to travel again. Another day's trek and we got there, exhausted.

It was day-time, and a man name Roland ran up to us. "It's you! It's all really _you! _I never thought I'd ever meet any of you! Hello there, I'm Roland… I'm a bard, see. And I need something to sing about. Just listen to this…" he stopped, picked up the lute strapped to his back and played a tune.

"_The Heroes went to Bower Lake and gave that Thag a belly ache._" He smiled when he finished and put his lute back into place. "If you four want, I can show you around?"

I smiled back politely, "That sounds nice, Roland. We'll take you up on your offer. As soon as you show us the nearest inn, we've been walking all day."

The man nodded quickly, and ushered us to follow him. I already knew where the nearest inn was, the Cow and Corset, but again. Don't wanna ruin it for Alex and Rose. As we crossed the bridge, he turned to us excitedly, "This is the Bower Bridge! Nice and uhm… Bridgey, don't you think? There are always stalls set up if you want to do some shopping."

I was guessing he got some inspiration because he pulled his lute back out and strummed, _"The Heroes stood proudly on the bridge they call Bower where a whiff of wet rat smells rather sour!"_ Rose and I laughed at the verse, and continued the walk across the bridge.

We stood on the steps of the clock tower, waiting for Theresa. _"I have bad news, I'm afraid I will be delayed for a while."_ We heard her say and I cheered. "Later, losers, I'm goin' to bed!"

I walked into the Cow and Corset, handed some coins I'd found on my way to the Shopkeeper and ran upstairs to a bed and slept.

The other girls, however, got the rest of Theresa's message. _"But you'll need money; I believe the blacksmith has an opening." _

Rose went to the tailors, and they gratefully hired her for her fashion sense, compared to theirs; which Rose says is absent.

Al went for the Alchemy store, fascinated to see what they had.

And that left Sparrow to the Blacksmith.

I, however, didn't get Theresa's message until two hours later. I quietly hopped up the steps to the book store, asking the woman politely if I could help and I helped her sort through her books that whole night.

When I walked out of the store that morning, I could see Alex emerging from the Alchemy store, Sparrow handing in her gloves. It appears we each got paid and I held onto the bag of coins I received, jogging over to the blacksmith meeting Alex and Sparrow. When we noticed we were minus a Rose, we looked around for her, and saw nothing.

From behind us, towards Rose's store, we heard, "Beck, Sparrow and Alex! Come here I got something for you!" we turned and saw Rose ushering us to come into the tailor's store.

We walked inside and were surprised to see so many articles of clothing covering mannequins. Turns out she's been making these and putting them together since last night.

For Alex, she had a bandit shirt, explorer pants and a comfy overcoat she'd dyed blue.

For me, she picked out Will pants dyed black, and fixed my boots until they were comfy snow boots.

For Sparrow and herself she picked out noble tops, hot pants and thigh boots.

After we changed and were comfortable enough for battle, we returned to the clock tower to meet Theresa. But even before we were able to leave the tailor's, Theresa spoke to us, _"I have returned; meet me by the clock tower in the main square."_

We saw Theresa standing near the clock tower and we walked over. Even without us saying anything, she shuffled back towards us, "I apologize for the delay. Events are moving quickly, indeed. Think about your life, all the people you've all known. Everything you have all done, how many moments, how many memories. Thag and his men, they had just as many, and now they have none, because of you four. Do you feel the weight of responsibility yet?"

I shrugged along with Rose, while Sparrow and Alex nodded. "Your enthusiasm will have its uses, but mind it does not consume you. Come, the world is better off without Thag, and Bower Lake is certainly in all of your debts."

She started to walk off towards the right of the Cow and Corset and we followed. "But to really see the impact of your actions you need look no further than Bowerstone, it has changed much since you lived here. Particularly Old Town where you spent your childhood."

At this point Alex, Rose and I knew she was talking directly to Sparrow. We reached a caravan and I looked over a fence to see the Spire.

"Never forget that even the simplest choices can have far reaching consequences. Look that is where Lucien is now, the Tattered Spire." I looked up with the other girls to see the Spire in all its… 'glory'.

"It is alive once again, from Lucien's hand. Lucien found documents that foretold the coming of one that will stop it. That is why Rose died, and that is why you will face him. The cards have shown me this. Here take a look."

From her bag, she withdrew six cards and handed them to Sparrow. "Each of the six Heroes you see in the cards represents a hidden path to Lucien's downfall."

Sparrow looked through each of the cards, reading them off one by one, "The Pilgrim, the Mage, the Thief, the Shrewd, the Giver and the Siren?"

"Yes, Lucien's agent's scour the land, even as we speak. You must find the _other_ three Heroes before Lucien does, because you are the fourth, Sparrow… The one who will bring his downfall. I have vision of a holy ritual in Oakfield, salvation though bittersweet, is delivered by one of incredible strength. Speak to the Abbot at the Temple of Light and see what you can learn of this Pilgrim."

I sighed loudly, and we turned around, ready to start our journey.

"The road to Oakfield will be dangerous," Theresa added, "Good luck."

We replied with quiet 'thank you' and walked back into the Cow and Corset.

"I'll need at least 10 hours of sleep before I even _think_ of moving again," Rose said as we walked up the stairs to different rooms. I shared with Sparrow, while Alex shared with Rose.

"Hey, Sparrow?" I asked quietly as we were about to go to bed.

"Yeah?"

"I think you're an amazing person, and I just wish I was like you."

She smiled slightly as she removed her shoes. "Okay, Beck… It seems you become nice when you sleep, off to bed-"

"No, Sparrow. I mean it. I know what you go through and I know what happens to you, you're truly a great person."

She sat down on her bed and smiled. "Thank you, you're not so bad yourself… Kinda loud and gets mad easily… But you're not that bad."

"Why thank you~." I bid her goodnight, and fell asleep.


	4. Hero of Fools

{A/N: Four chapters! Woo! Now time for me to eat. Enjoy the cliffy, Al. :3 ~Ray.}

The next morning, I found myself taking the hour journey to Bowerstone Old Town. The only one that actually felt like leading these people some place for an hour. As we neared the entrance, I saw that guard- Derek wave to Sparrow. "Why hello again. It's you! Wow you've changed since you were last running around this place. But I recognize what's in those eyes: goodness, decency, and respect for the law. After you gave me those arrest warrants, I broke up Nicky the Nickname's whole crew, and Lord Lucian made _me_ sheriff! Of course, then he disappeared…"

He paused as Sparrow dragged us up with her, "But crime is way down," he continued, "And urban renewal has transformed this neighborhood into the most desirable district in Bowerstone. Fantastic, isn't it? As a good friend of the sheriff, you'll find the shopkeepers will give you a discount of all goods and services. Of course that same discount extends to that sister of yours, should she be in town." We were about to interrupt, but he continued, "Well I won't take any more of your time. Stay out of trouble, won't you?" and with that, he walked away.

I breathed out, "I'm sorry he brought it up…" I stated, frowning slightly as we continued our walking.

"Don't mention it," she replied loosely, and we did nothing but continue our walk to Oakfield, through Old Town.

We walked down the stairs, through an arch and across another bridge. Basically, in plain words, it's just the Rookridge road. Across a small garden and up a small hill, we were entering Rookridge. And it's only…_15 hours on foot. _Over the past two days I've hated every second we've been walking. However, it only took us a half hour to get to Old Town when we were told it'd take a whole hour. So anyway, against my better judgment, I was forced to go anyway. And yet another day's journey later, after we stopped and made yet _another _camp, we stumbled across Rookridge. A man with dark skin ran past us muttering something about 'bandits'.

I frowned and clucked my tongue softly. "I hate this part…"

We walked ahead a bit around a few winding roads. With rock's showing up, I knew it was time for the bandits to show up. And they did. Sparrow handed her crossbow to Rose, who was in archery back at home. I'd be doing it, but I had will and was able to get them with that. Al unsheathed her mace, and ran after the people on the ground, engaging one bandit in a fight, effectively holding one off with the other sword from Rose. While she did that Rose, Sparrow and I got the bandits on the cliff. After a few minutes those bandits will never be heard from again.

We continued our journey, going around a corner and around a few more turns, running into a few more bandits. We reached a bridge- or what we thought was going to be a bridge.

"Oh look more travelers!" one of the bandits yelled from across the gap.

"Want to get to Oakfield? You'll have to swim, luvies."

I frowned because I'm really not one for swimming.

Another one of the males let out a hoarse laugh. "Yeah! Jump!"

Two of them put their hands up in the air and cheered, "Jump, jump, jump!"

"Dive!" the first yelled.

The second two stopped and turned to the first. "You always have to be different." The second scolded.

Totally ignoring that, Theresa with the Guild seal told us, "For once, the bandits are right. The only way to Oakfield… Is down."

I sighed and comfortably fixed my bag under my coat.

"What's the matter?" one yelled.

"Are you chicken?"

With my mouth wide open, and for some reason at the same time and intensity, Rose, Alex and I yelled, "Nobody calls me chicken!"

I saw Sparrow jumped off first, then Rose, then Alex and then myself.

I held my breath as soon as I was going to hit the bottom and held onto my nose.

"Are we dead?!" I gasped as soon as I got some air back into my lungs.

"Becky, we're still alive."

"We're alive, but we're dead!" I cried, putting my hand on my face to wipe off extra water.

"Let's get going, yeah?" I asked, looking at the other three who had already swam around the support of the bridge.

"We were waiting for you." Rose said, and took off to the island close by.

I sighed and kicked my feet to where Rose went the other two already ahead of me. There was a small island and in the distance, we saw a cave of sorts. I silently looked around for Herman, who if I remember correctly was looking for his son, Joey. With no luck, we're either too late or too early for him to be here. We walked inside and it just felt very cramped to me. It was all rock and I never felt particularly safe with rock overhead. We neared an opening and I saw hobbes near a railroad. They turned to us and growled. Rose had already given Sparrow her crossbow back and now had her Longsword. See, uh, the reason that Alex and Rose have to use weapons is because they chose Skill and Strength instead of Will. Those two knew I'd take Will first.

When the hobbes lie dead, Sparrow and I looked up to see a walkway.

"A-are you sure this is safe?" Rose asked, as Sparrow and I walked up.

"These seem a little… Rickety…"

I shook my head silently. "It's fine, dude. Just one person per bridge, okay?"

After a few of the walk-ways there was another arch.

"…Let's hope there's not much more left," Sparrow stated hopefully.

When I was silent, the three looked over to me. "Hm?" I asked, looking back over at them. "What?"

"She said she _hopes there's not much more left,_" Rose repeated, crossing her arms and walked in front of me.

"I don't know if I should confirm any loose suspicions." I walked past her through a few more cave-y areas. I completely forgot this area, and that information will do me no good now.

The three filed in behind me and we continued walking, until hobbes jumped out behind barrels, causing Rose and I to scream. It wasn't until I opened my eyes and stopped my screaming that I realized Rose jumped behind me shielding herself from the hobbes. I looked over to Sparrow and Alex and noticed that they already killed off the hobbes that frightened us. Rose slowly walked out from behind me and I frowned slightly. What kind of Hero runs at the sight of a stupid _hobbe?_

* * *

I can safely say the next time hobbes ambushed us, I was the opposite of scared. I released twice the amount of fire, hitting the ground with a few of the attacks. Even throwing one hobbe up into the air and lobbed a fire ball at it as it fell over a cliff. I'm a _frickin' Hero, I know better than to scream at a stupid hobbe. _I showed them no mercy, killing every last hobbe in my sight. My hand was burning the whole time but I ignored it, and I looked over to Sparrow, Alex and Rose and they were looking at me oddly.

"Wow, Beck, you sure are a Hero…" Rose stated, as I pushed my hair back most of it attacking my face during fights. I pulled out one of the few ponytails I brought with and tugged my hair back into exactly that; a ponytail.

I looked over to me left and saw the exit, up a ladder. I climbed up and the others followed in my example. It brought us up to a farm-ish-thing and I opened a hatch revealing sunlight and _outside_.

From the near distance, one of the bandits stated, "I'm bored! Can we go fight now?"

Another sighed sadly, "No, it's our job to guard the bridge."

"But it's broken! No one can cross it!" the second was silent for a moment before replying.

"…I didn't say it was a hard job."

"What if someone sneaks up on us?"

"Yeah! Sneaking up from behind, and throttling us?"

"Will you two shut up? That ain't gonna happen."

The four of us smiled at each other, and we did just that. When we were firmly behind them, we pushed them into the water.

"Have a fun trip back!" I called down, laughing. We turned around and continued our way through Rookridge.

One large arch started at us as we stared back at us.

"Alex, honey that could fall on us and kill us," I reported to my friend who stuck her tongue out in response.

I unfortunately remembered this walk was 13 hours on foot, or 70 miles. The odd thing is, we could walk a whole mile in 15 minutes, so who knows how long this one will take?

* * *

Actually, about 10 hours later we made it to Oakfield. Firstly, we all agreed we were not going to see the abbot today, since it was about 9 PM. And that I would direct them to the closest inn, and we'd sleep until we were awake. When we walked into Oakfield, it was even prettier than I'd ever imagine. The grass was even greener, the ground a bit softer and the surroundings were so pleasant.

We walked past a guard, "Didn't expect to see four new faces today," he stated conversationally, until Sparrow's dog strolled past.

"Make that five new faces, then. Made it through without much trouble, did you? Well, listen, this town's a peaceful place. So stay out of trouble; or you'll have me to deal with. That said, welcome to Oakfield."

I responded with a smile, and we walked across a bridge into a nearby inn. I distinctly remembered them being in the back and I was faced with the two bedroom deal again. The only problem this time is that I shared with Rose, and Alex shared with Sparrow. As I removed my heavy clothing I looked over to Rose who was taking off her boots.

"Hey, Rosie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you believe that just a few days ago our biggest problem was finding matching suspenders?"

She laughed lightly and hopped back over by me.

"I believe it, dude. Maybe you should, too."

I nodded. "I try… Goodnight, Rosie-posie."

"Goodnight, Becky."

* * *

Bright and early, and by that I mean noon; Rose stirred beside me and I looked up to see her yawning and stretching, apparently awake now. We redressed and ate some food before we went on our way to find the abbot at the Temple of Light. We walked out of the inn fully rested and ready to start another day. I ushered them to the left, and on the way we began discussing random topics. About a mile away from the inn, Theresa began to talk to us again.

"Oakfield is one of the lushest regions of Albion; it owes its fertility to the extraordinary Golden Oak, which lives for only a few decades, before producing a single golden acorn. The monks of the Temple of Light replant this acorn, and as the tree is reborn, so are all the lands and farms around. The abbot is quite nervous about this year's ritual. See what you can find out." After Theresa finished her speech, we ran into another pack of stupid beetles.

As we walked past the waterfall, Alex groaned.

"Rebecca Ann, if you think I'm even going anywhere _near_ that 'Temple of Light' thing, you're sadly mistaken."

"Don't call me that," I hissed as I turned to face her, then huffed. "They're not gonna convert you or anything, we just need to talk to the abbot, nothing'll happen, okay?"

She sighed loudly, then walked past us and into the Temple. We heard one male talking to the abbot, who was facing our way.

"Father, the sacred text clearly say that only two monks may enter the cave. No one else."

The abbot shook his head. "I'll not send my only child into a cave without any protection. I will find an escort, and that's the _end _of it."

The other male cleared his throat as we entered. "Ah! Hello my children, I wonder…" he trailed off, then looked over to the monks next to him. "Brother's leave us." One muttered 'heathens' and I stuck my tongue out towards them as they left.

"Let me take a look at your four for a moment…" he paused and a few of us made some poses to win his favor.

"Hmm… armed… quite imposing… but I can't send just anyone in there. Quite impressive, but no… I think not. You all look imposing alright, but I can't entrust our community's survival to… Complete strangers. Perhaps if you would all build up reputations, I'd be more inclined to trust you. Maybe the bandit problem in Rookridge is a good start..?"

I nod, "Anything to help us help you, help us.. Help you… Help us… and then help you-" I was quiet as Sparrow took my spot, "She means we'll be back as soon as possible." She smiled politely and we walked out.

"The blessing must go forward if you're to find the Pilgrim. You must gain the abbot's favor."

At this point we were _finally_ able to use our Guild seals to transport us to different places. We decided that A Bridge Too Far would be the best quest to do. But unluckily for us, we didn't need to teleport since it was in Oakfield and back at the inn. After a short walk back, the attention in focus was at the top of the inn, up two staircases. It was Barnum; the picture taking fellow whom Sparrow knew from years past. Now the only thing that the others don't know is what we're going to have to do for him.


	5. Helping the Helpless

{A/N: To Erin; about the song you told me to put on here, I found the original Siren song from the Odyssey. And besides if you sing that to us at any point we'd literally _die._ So uhm, yeah not gonna happen. I'll throw you singing that song in at a different time, maybe you could start a riot in the Spire? OOPS SPOILERS. D: -runs off to hide in my bedroom and write more-. ~Ray.}

The man's face was covered by his hands while he muttered, 'how could this happen? Oh no, no no…' As we walked up the stairs, he turned to us and with a big smile he proclaimed, "Well, wrap me in pigskin and call me a sausage! Look who it is! It's me! Barnum, from Bowerstone, remember? You helped me with my picture-taking business!"

Sparrow nodded. "It never took off, still gamplussled about that one. Look at you now, all grown up! A proper adventurer too! I bet that sister of yours is very proud."

Again, as someone brought up he sister, she was cut off. "Me, I'm in a bit of custard right now. And it was all going so well. I made the deal of the century just the other day. This wonderfully strange fellow sold me the bridge in Rookridge! Cost me every last piece of gold I had, but a thing like that pays for itself, what with all the trade tolls and everything. Only now the bally thing's fallen to pieces. And no one can get close enough to reconstructify it. Bandits, you see. Bunch of sprockless rotters. Probably saw them on your way here. Keep popping up all over the place, they do. You couldn't give them a proper seeing to, could you? For old time's sake? Oh I'd be positively ambidextrous if you could. You can even have my old thesaurus. Know it all by heart now, anyway…"

Sparrow nodded as she walked forward to shake his hand. "I'd love to help you, Barnum." "So you'll get rid of all the bandits in Rookridge? Wondrous! I knew I could count on you, old friend!"

Sparrow waved goodbye to the man, and we walked back down the stairs. "Show no mercy!" he yelled down to us and we nodded. _Now_ we were able to use our Guild seals, and were very happy about it, all this walking made my feet hurt.

We gathered in a circle, "Is there a button you push or somethi-" again, Alex started to say and was cut off by her Guild seal activating.

Rose laughed. "Maybe she should stop talking, she'll keep getting cut off-" then Rose's activated and she vanished.

"Pshh, hear that?" I asked, elbowing Sparrow. "Amateu-" then with no fault of my own, mine activated and I was sent to Oakfield Road in Rookridge.

When I got there, I was standing up until I abruptly fell to the ground. I found myself uncomfortably lying on a now broken barrel and stood up.

"That was… 'fun'," Sparrow stated, from behind me.

"Totally fun," Rose added.

"…So swaggy," Alex continued and I picked up a piece of the broken wood and hit her on the arm. "Ow, ow! I was kidding, Beck!"

I threw the plank behind me, it falling over a cliff and into the river. As we stood up and situated ourselves again, we began to walk up to the Inn, my favorite inn in _all_ of Fable. Only because of its name. And it's called the Lucky Heather. Cautiously we walked inside of the inn, it being too quiet for our liking.

The door behind us shut, and we looked up to the stairs. "Get 'em!" one man with a scratchy voice yelled from the top and bolting out of the room, we unfortunately found ourselves in another ambush.

I sighed internally and externally as I charged up a fire spell, ducking a stray bullet from the balcony. When they were all gone, we walked out of the doors and down the stairs.

From a random railroad in the near distance, Dash yelled out to us, "You think you're going to catch me? Why do you think they call me Dash, stupid?"

I narrowed my eyes as we ran down the steps and across the railroads, fighting off bandits every direction we passed. Finally we reached Dash, who was on top of a boulder. "You come down from there right now!" Alex yelled and with a threatening gaze, she held up her sword.

"There's no way you can make me come down there!"

Silently remembering the cards I distinctly remembered Rose being a Siren. I elbowed Rose, "Sing the siren song." I held my hands over my ears, as did Alex and Sparrow.

_"Famous Dash, glory of bandits of Albion. Come down from that rock and listen to my voice. Once he hears to his heart's content, sails on, a wiser man," _she sang loudly, the only person walking up to the boulder that Dash was standing on. I noticed he was getting a little weaker_._

_"We all know the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured." _I could notice her smile from even far away; I know when she sings it makes her happy; however I know for sure that if she's the 'Siren' like the cards say, we can't hear her sing. Although I think it might be something that she does to make it deadly.

I know if nobody could hear her sing randomly, she'd be crushed so we have to figure out what it is that makes her voice like this. Because what I could tell, Dash was getting off the boulder. _"On the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so- all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!" _She continued until Dash was standing in front of her, captivated by her voice.

Sparrow quickly lifted her hands off her ears, and reached for her crossbow, effectively killing Dash in an instant. Rose stopped the song, but started humming another song after it was done. We all high-fived after I took my hands off my ears.

Sparrow looked over to Rose, "You certainly are a siren, be careful with that song in particular, okay?" the mentioned nodded. "Oh sure of course, I just remembered that from the Odyssey." Then after we collected what was in the chest behind the boulder, we traveled back to the bar in Oakfield.

* * *

"Ahh the Heroes return! A stupendous success! Jolly well done," Barnum complimented as we walked back up to him.

"Of course," he continues with a slight frown, "turns out those deeds weren't entirely genuine, so the toll thing isn't going to work out quite as plannified."

"Sorry to hear that," Sparrow replied with the same expression.

He waved his hand, "Still, it's not me who has to rebuild the bridge now. Okay, so I might be broke, but I'll bounce back. Always do."

He walked forward, handing Sparrow a book, "Anyway, here's my trusty thesaurus, as promised. You never know when you'll be caught in a lexicological quandary!" and with that, he walked down the stairs and left.

Over the Guild seal- still safe to say we're not used to it-, Theresa spoke to us again, "Thanks to you the way to Bowerstone is open again. You are all almost famous enough, a few people are whispering of your deeds… But that's not quite enough," I frowned silently, trying to remember the quests we could still do.

"What about Knothole island, eh? Theresa, do we have to buy it or- wait a second, this isn't the game, we can just go meet Gordon anyway." With a slight shrug, the others nodded at my quest, and we traveled to the Town Square in Bowerstone Market.

* * *

However, not really what I wanted to do, but when we got there it was the dead of the night. Sparrow suggested we should get some sleep first and I begrudgingly followed her back into the Cow and Corset; this time sharing a room with Alex.

After a ten hour rest or so, it was morning and we set off to go find Gordon. I directed them under the Bower Bridge after I bought a few apples, carrots and some cheese from a stall. With the girls munching and following behind me, I walked under the arch that starts the bridge and walked down the stairs on the right. I smiled as I saw Gordon's submarine in the distance, my only worry that we won't all fit in it. When we hopped onto the docks, Rose waved to the man standing at the end of it.

"O-oh hello, I'm just a common citizen person you see every day 'round these parts. Wait-" he pointed to each of us individually. "You're all one of them, aren't you!? An adventuring hero fighter thingy? Oh good! The Chieftain made me memorize a speech, let's see…"

He paused and cleared his throat, reciting in a monotone, "My name is Gordon, I come from Knothole Island, which is in dire need of your help. Winter has gripped our land, and only someone valiant enough to recover the Summer Stone can save us. I impassionately plead that you aid us in our time of need."

Gordon stopped the speech and smiled, "Not so bad, eh? I brought some gifts from the island too, if that helps to convince you… Will you come, then?" I answered for the rest of us, "I think we'd be delighted to go to Knothole Island with you, Gordon." He let out a breath and wiped his forehead. "Oh, that's a relief. Let's go! Hmm… I hope my submarine can hold five people…" he said hopefully before we hopped into the submarine.

When we got inside, he handed us a potion, One Burned Calorie Potion. Alex made grabby hands for it, "Ooh ooh! I wanna drink it!" she was handed it and had a sip of it.

"It tastes like grapes," she muttered afterwards and put the cap back on and put it in her bag.

We also received sunglasses, which were handed to Rose. We also got the Knothole Island book, Volume I of course. We also received assassin gloves which I used and matched my coat. Lastly we got the Knight boots which we gave to Sparrow.

* * *

"You'll find the Chieftain in his office in the center of town- can't miss it!" Gordon informed us, and we walked off the docks and onto the land.

He was right it was cold here. I was silently grateful that Rose gave me snow boots. We rounded a corner and ran to the office since the girls were cranky that it's cold.

We entered and the Chieftain threw his arms up. "Here they are!" he greeted, and shook our hands quickly. "The saviors of Knothole Island, I promised my people I would deliver them a Hero- or in this case four; to rescue us from our terrible plight. See how I fulfill my promise, everyone!"

He walked over to the door shutting it to prevent snow from getting inside. "Allow me to give you a cordial and official welcome to Knothole Island. This bitter cold is most certainly not my fault. Our ancestors used the mighty Weather Totems to control our climate, but since our last warriors died we've been stuck in this wintry quagmire." Alex, Rose and I silently giggled at his term usage.

"We need you to retrieve the Sun Totem from the Ice Shrine. Of course, you'll need the Ice Key to enter the Shrine. All I know is that our last warrior buried it somewhere near the frozen waterfall. Let's hope it doesn't melt in your hand when you find it…"

As we left the office, I lent my Assassins coat to Rose, who was cold. I had on a long sleeve shirt I'd been wearing since we got to Albion, and gloves, so I should be fine. We walked across the top of these walkways above ground. It was the land itself that these needed to be built. We went down the stairs and across to where if I remember correctly- will lead us up a hill where these creatures will jump out and fight us.

"Get your weapons out," I told them as we neared land again. I'm sure it must have passed Rose's mind on why I didn't need my coat was because I have inferno to use, and it keeps my body temperature in line.

Without about five hits, the creatures were out of sight. And it's not that they died, they more like… vanished. We walked up the rest of the hill, coming into contact with beetles at the top.

When the ones from my area were all gone, I looked over to Alex, who was having a bit of a problem.

One was in front of her, the other in the back. As one was about to release that purple thing that hurts a lot, she whipped the mace around, crushing it as she yelled, "OH, SIEG HEIL NO!" I laughed as I threw fire at the other one.

From the other side of the frozen river, Sparrow's dog dug up the other key. Alex, Rose and I walked over and looked at the 'key'. Despite its name, it's more like he Guild seal in all the ways it could be one. There was a small snowflake on the front, and Sparrow held onto it as we walked to the Shrine.

* * *

Looking straight at the building isn't as fun as it sounds. Its pretty frickin' intimidating from the outside… like it could break off the mountain and charge after everyone in Albion; Sparrow walked over to the door, pulling out the ice key and fitting it on the door until it unlocked.

As soon as we walked in, there was a small pack of hobbes, of course… Why would I expect any less? Behind an igloo looking thing there was a treasure chest containing Deep Skin Beauty Treatment. I shrugged silently and put the small bottle into my bag.

I turned to see Sparrow, Alex and Rose found where to go next, we have to jump… _Again._ It wasn't that wide, so we all had to jump separately. At the bottom there was this place above the water where we'd have to go next. The doorway was blocked by an ice block. We were faced with a lever, and looked to the strongest.

"So do I pull on it, or push it?" Alex asked as she gripped the top of the lever.

"Pull it." I told her.

And a few feet away the gargoyles released fire melting the ice blocking our path. We walked through a small closed area, and on the other side I saw another lever and ice. Well this _was_ the ice shrine.

We walked through and were surprised when nothing popped out at us. Both doors were open, and Sparrow and I went to the left, and Alex and Rose to the right.

Right as we were next to the door, it slammed shut and those creatures came out from nowhere. By this point, that didn't surprise me, so I killed them all off until we were able to go into the door Sparrow and I chose.

Through the arch and onto a ground with a few holes covering it, on the left, an electric field was stopping us from getting to the other side. Rose and I recognized a flit switch, and Alex pulled out her mace, hitting it since it was for swords.

It flew to the other side, coming back with a different requirement. It was a gun, so Rose used the crossbow and pointed it at it and hit it.

Again, it hit the other side, and came back. This time it was magic, so I readied it and threw it, hitting and coming back.

For a little while we played this game, until it went back one final time, destroying the rock and the electric barrier turned off. We walked through, and Alex pulled the lever again. She rubbed her hands on her pants afterwards.

"It's really rusty…" she muttered afterwards.

Then we went back into the main area, just _waiting _for it to lock on us again. Which it did, and again those creatures came out of nowhere. They were like the shadows in Fable III, which I'm guessing is almost the same thing.

We noticed that the ice melted for the obvious next path, and ran over to open the treasure chest. And bandit gloves… We handed them over to Alex, who was wearing most of the bandit outfit, except for the Explorer pants.

"This will make pulling the levers easier." She reported, and we shook our heads as we walked over to the other door that Alex and Rose were at before they realized it wouldn't work.

This one was more cave-y looking. Four flit switches stared at us ominously. The way was blocked by more electric fields. We hit at them randomly until they all stopped and Alex ran up and pulled another lever down.

I pointed the girls to an ice covered area to our right. I pounded the ground with a fire spell and they melted. I vaulted down first, the other three following behind me. There was another lever down here, And Alex pulled it back.

We walked forward a bit and were faced with a ladder. We climbed up and found ourselves at the top of the rock where we just were. On the end of the cliff, Volume II was just sitting there an Rose put it in her bag.

We carefully jumped back down and went back to the main area. Shocker, they're back once again. One small round later, the ice thawed itself from the lever we've tried to thaw the _entire_ time we've been in here. Sparrow ran to get her dog, where it was barking, while Rose ran to the treasure chest and Alex pulled the lever. I got the last treasure chest while the ice to my right was thawing. It was Knight Trousers, which we handed to Sparrow to complete the bottom of the outfit.

She stepped into those, putting her shorts into her bag. She walked over with a potion for Will, which we agreed we'll split later, while Rose found a perfect skin augment, which she wants to put on a weapon of hers, as soon as she finds a good weapon, that is. Across the cross-walk, we entered another door and found a ring of fire with rock in-between. After we vaulted off the small cliff we were able to see it more clearly.

However, before we were even able to do that, more of those shadow-y creatures showed up. When they were gone, one of the fires stopping our exit vanished and we jumped down, I ran for the treasure chest while the other three waited. It was a Feeble Scar Vanishing Potion. When I got back, there it was floating pleasantly ready for us to take it. Sparrow picked it up, it glowed and we found ourselves outside.

No, it wasn't cold, it was warm… Too warm. I took my coat off and hung it around my waist, pulling an apple out of my bag and munching on it. We walked down this hill and went to meet the chieftain who was waiting in his office for us.

With volume six with us, we walked into his office. He was sitting on top of the desk, until we walked in heatedly. "I did it!" he cheered and we gave him confused faces, "I had full confidence I'd chosen adequate champions for this historic event. I'd brought sunshine back to my people. And you all did your part too, of course… Feel free to enjoy the weather and spend your money in the shops." With that, he ushered us out and shut the door. A bit confused, Theresa spoke to us through the seal, "You've done it. Almost everyone in Oakfield has heard of all of you. Now you can go back to the abbot."

* * *

The next day after we made some more gold chopping wood and bartender-ing, we found ourselves back in the Temple of Light. The abbot was facing the alter, and once we walked in, Alex cleared her throat. "It's you! I prayed for your return." he replied happily, turning around.

"I heard what you all did in Rookridge; I think you could be of great use to us."

We smiled and high-fived to ourselves, and the abbot walked past us, "Come! Walk with me a while."

We shrugged as we followed him out the door, "Now, nourishing the Golden Acorn is done with holy water from the Wellspring of Light. But the spring is located in a nearby cave, which is said to be quite dangerous. Our sacred text says two monks must enter this cave; the strongest and a second of the abbot's choosing. Obviously this concerns me because the strongest monk here is my own child. So instead of a second monk, I have chosen to send a protector for the first. But in our case, there will be four protectors. And that will be all of you… if you're interested."

We continued walking until we stopped at the waterfall. "The cave is just at the end of this road. You probably passed it on your way here. Our strongest monk will be waiting for you when you're ready. Good luck." He walked back up the hill and we did the opposite.

* * *

At the end of that road, indeed, we saw a glimpse of the first Hero; Hannah, or Hammer as I hope I don't call her because that would be awkward. _"…Nobody knows, nobody sees… the sirens of Oakvale, down by the reeds."_ Faintly, we could hear Hannah singing.

"_Down by the reeds, down by the reeds. Swim the sirens of Oakvale, out to the seas._" Without any invitation, we walked up as she sat on a rock and drank from a brown bottle. "Ah, I knew my lovely singing voice would draw the crowds," she states as she ceases her song. She finished her bottle, and dropped it over the edge. "So you're my escorts, then? My father said you'd be coming by."

Sparrow's dog walked up to her and barked. She bent down to lovingly pet the dog.

"Hey there, boy! Hello! Oh, you're a strong handsome follow, aren't you? I'll feel better having you with me in that cave, yes I will."

Hannah stands up, and looks over to us, "I'm Sister Hannah." "I'm Rose," "Alex." "I'm Beck, and this is Sparrow." She nods silently, "Some people call me Hammer when they think they're being clever, they not. But I can't do much about it because monks make a solemn vow not to smash anyone's face in. Did my father mention that? Yeah, whatever fighting's to be done in there… It's all of yours."

She turns away from us to grab the jug as Theresa tells us something.

"We require a Hero, not a pacifist monk. We'll need to find her a reason to fight."

"Believe me, there is one," I said aloud then immediately covered my mouth.

"One what?" she questions, looking over her shoulder at us.

I waved her off. "Oh nothing, Alex just asked me something."

"Oh… Well I don't mind telling you, but I am a bit envious."

"Why's that?" Rose asks, a bit curious.

"You get all the excitement, and I get to carry this bloody thing like some sort of mule. I mean look at it! It's enormous!"

Alex, from my side piped in, "I can do zat."

I elbowed her sharply. "She doesn't understand the reference."

"Golden or not," she continued, "How much water does a bloody acorn need?"

She stepped out of the way from the door of the entrance. "Adventurers first," she reported, and made a gesture towards the door. I shook my head slowly as we made it down the stairs and through the doors, ready to fight whatever was down there waiting for us.


	6. Persuasion to the Unpersuadable

{A/N: Ciao peeps! YET ANOTHER CHAPTAH. I took my needed break, and now I'm back! ...I think I should write these at the end, instead. I'm redoing everything… well not everything, the important parts. Okay, see y'all at the end. ^-^ ~Ray.}

* * *

"It's amazing when you think about it." Hannah reported as we walked down the steps, entering the cave itself, "No one else has been in here for maybe a hundred years. Well, no monks anyway. I guess an adventurer or two could have come in. But if they got out alive, I didn't hear about it."

Sparrow nodded, "Neither did I."

I giggled from next to Sparrow, "I _certainly_ didn't hear about it."

"Rebecca," Rose stated siriusly, from aside me. "Sorry."

We walked through a small arch, everyone's attention flying up to the ceiling. "Look up there!" Hannah smiled, pointing up to a cluster right above us. "I think they're called wisps. Souls of the dead who never left this world."

I nodded, "You guys will _freak_ to see what they turn into," I stated, until Rose covered my mouth.

"Spoilers," she said to me, looking at me firmly with her brown eyes, which I slumped away from.

"What did I say about the eyes, Finny?! THE EYES I CAN'T HANDLE THE EYES."

Sparrow, completely ignoring us, nodded with Hannah as an agreement. "It's actually rather sad..." we walked down a few more steps, Hannah slowed down Sparrow's dog. "Watch your step, doggie. It looks a bit steep here." the dog barked in reply, and we walked through another cave type thing.

"Do you reckon we'll run into anything nasty down here?" Hannah asked, looking over to Sparrow.

"Perhaps." the latter replied with a shrug.

"I mean," she continued. "A dark, creepy cave is a hell of a place for a holy spring."

"Thank you, Hannah." I responded happily, glad _someone_ finally got it. I mean, seriously, Molyneux? _Siriusly? _"Especially for pacifists," Sparrow added with a laugh.

"You know, I've heard of monks in the north who believe that to transcend violence, you have to understand it first. So instead of praying, they fight all day." "Wouldn't you rather do that?" I asked, trying not to be punched by the two who came to Albion with me.

"I would rather do that," she agreed. "Sometimes I think what if the bloke who founded the Temple of Light had believed that? Or what if I've been adopted by warrior monks, instead of my dad? My life would be _completely_ different now." the rest of us nodded silently.

"Same person; just change where I was brought up and I'd have different beliefs. And if that's true, our beliefs aren't really worth a toss, are they?" "Exactly what I've said," Alex pipes in, until Rose and I elbowed her to shut up and let Hannah continue. "Yet, even though I know that. I still can't imagine ever breaking my vows."

"She's quite insightful for a monk," Theresa interrupts, and then says nothing further. We walk through another arch, into some sort of chamber. "All right, this should be the central chamber." Hannah says, reminding my memory. "This is pretty cool!" Rose says, "It's been a while since I've been in here-" I shushed her best I could without her blowing the secret.

"Hm? You've been in here before?" Hannah asks, turning to the blabber. "Whaaat? No way! I was... Kidding! Haha! That's how we do jokes in America!" again, Hannah has a confused look on her face, "Where's America?" I waved my hand at her softly, "Oh uhm... Somewhere near Samarkand..." she nods as if she gets it then walks over to a large plate on the floor.

"Putting weight on the pressure plate will cause the door to open," she recited, then walked over to the nearest plate on the left, "My father says this one's the first." She steps onto it, the lights of the torches lit themselves, and the door lifts.

"That wasn't creepy at all..." Rose says, and coughs to get her voice not to sound so high.

We walked inside and through a small hallway, and Hannah states, "So the plates requires more weight as we go-" and Alex cut her off as she started to get science-y. "And we'll get more water from every fountain, which will be super easy! We'll show everyone!"

I pat her head silently, "Okay, settle down there, Thor." I laugh. "Sorry, I got carried away..." we walked through another cliff-thing-where-we-could-possibly-fall-and-die to get to the first part. Sparrow's dog jumped into the water near the next part, and I backed up in order not to get hit with the after-effect.

When the other two Heroes (Rose and Alex) and I stood on the ground, Sparrow and Hammer walked up. Hannah dramatically fell to one knee, letting the water drip into the jug. "Oh yes I can feel this thing getting even heavier... That's nice, that is." we stood there quietly, until it stopped filling, and was finished.

"I think that's all we're going to get out of this one," Alex stated, then started walking out on her own. The rest of us followed her out, and we started walking back.

However, before we could even leave the tunnel part, from the top of the ceiling, the large clusters breaking as one single light beam came down, and going down into the rock, coming out as a skeleton with eyes a light bright blue like Theresa's. It growled at us as it stood up.

It started to run towards us, and Hannah from behind us stuttered, "U-um... This is where you four come in, right?" I sighed lightly, letting a fire spell appear. I threw the fireball at the hollowman. Rose and Alex cut its plan of charging at us, by tripping it.

"How do we kill hollowmen?" Sparrow asked, as she hit it with electricity.

"Fire!" I yelled as I let go of a spell I'd been charging the whole time they've been talking.

"Great!" Rose responded, as she cut one with her sword. It broke and fell, dissolving on the ground, three others taking its place.

"They're just trying to protect... The water!" I yelled, dodging a rusty sword that was swung at me by a hollowman.

Rose and Alex were protecting Hannah behind me, while Sparrow and I tried to fight off as many of the hollowmen as we could. When there weren't any more noises of movement, we moved forward a few steps to have more hollowmen show up from nowhere.

I groaned loudly, charging up another spell. "Ooh that looks like fun!" Hannah yelled from behind us, moving out of the way of some hits from stray hollowmen. "Fun? You wanna do this?" she shook her head at me. "My vow." "Yeah, well I'm religious and I'm here doing this."

As Hannah and I had our side-conversation, the other three covered for my lack-of-fighting. Suddenly, a spark of lightning was thrown next to me and I jumped. "The hell, Sparrow!?" "Stop slacking and start smacking!"

I gave a small laugh at the word usage. "Really? Okay, just because of that awful sentence." I resumed my fight just as it ended, and the hollowmen were gone. With nothing else to do, we went back to the central chamber.

"That was fantastic! Those things didn't stand a chance! Have any of you fought them before?" Hannah asked, as she neared the other plate.

"Not particularly." I responded, and she kept the same tone in her voice.

"Wow, you're all really fast learners... I don't see any wisps, and no hollowmen followed us. Guess we're safe in here." she stepped onto the next plate, the same thing happening with the first.

"Second door... Second plate." she told herself, and we walked into the next room.

It was the room with two staircases leading up to a small platform, and the bottom was covered in a few inches of water, but not much. And half-way between the water stood the next plate for Hannah. I told Alex and Rose to go to each side of the stair cases to let Sparrow stand alone and I would protect Hannah on the bottom floor.

Hannah kneeled back down and set readied the jug by the water. It started to pour immediately. As it poured, she said, "You'd think they'd make this jug with a flat bottom in case you wanted a rest..." I smiled from beside her, and the wisps began to move around on the ceiling.

"Oh bugger, here they come!" she yelled, keeping a solid grip on the jug and let it fill itself up.

One by one, two by two and even in threes the hollowmen showed up and Alex, Rose, and I were careful to make sure Hannah and Sparrow weren't harmed. Hannah chanted encouragements as the jug was filled, if it would just go a _little faster._

Then when the water stopped falling, so did the hollowmen. "Good grief..." Rose complained, as she shuffled back to the central chamber _again_.

When we made it back, we heard a loud noise, and Hannah stated, "What the bloody hell was that?" we turned to face her, as she had an astonished look on her face. "Are you ready for... whatever that was?" "Psh. How bad could it be?"

* * *

I stared at the headless hollowmen after round and round of normal hollowmen.

And _this_ was just overboard!

Like seriously!

Is this even a _thing?_

Full-on attack mode, the other three and I brought it down to dust, receiving a cheer from Hannah. "Wow that was amazing! You killed the lot of them!"

I blew off the extra smoke billowing from my palm and high-fived Alex, who held onto her hand after wards. "Sorry, I forget about the fire thing..." I uncomfortably swallowed as I remembered the next room and what was about to happen.

The door opened in front of us, and we walked through. At the floor, it seemed to have some sort of smoke on the bottom. It was only about as high as my boots, but it was weird. Sparrow walked over to the platform, while Alex, Rose and I relaxed on one of the walls.

Hannah walked up to the other plate, saying, "So we should nearly be done now, I know I said that before, but this should be it." a light shone down on Hannah as she recited, "Lord of Light, bless this water, and with it we may give rise to new life once more. As new life rises, so shall we."

From the very top of the staircase, there was a door, it was opening and all of us stared up at it expectantly. Well, not me of course. I know what's gonna happen. A man burst in and held his hands on his knees to catch his breath, "Sister Hannah!" he yelled. "Brother Robin? What is it?" she asked as she looked up towards the top.

"It's your father-" then my other two friends glared at me. "-One of Luciens men! He's holding him hostage at the temple!" By this point, Hannah had already ran up the whole staircase, as the rest of us struggled to get our stuff back together and chase after her.

"I have to save my father!" Hannah yelled, as she dropped the jug, climbed up a statue and ripped the hammer off running after brother Robin who left already. "Come on, we have to get to the temple!"

* * *

Vaulting off of three cliffs, we made it down off of the exit and ran as fast as we could up to the temple. Hannah, having a head start, was already there. "Father!" she yelled, "Are you okay?"

"He's one of Lucien's men," the abbot replied.

Nearing the waterfall, this man whose voice we didn't recognize said, "You come with us or he dies."

"Like hell I am, you let him or or I'll break you in half!" Hannah threatened.

In a matter of seconds, a gun was fired, and Hannah screamed. "No!"

The deep voice we didn't recognize came back into picture as we came up to the temple, "Don't make me kill you, too."

We made it inside of the temple just in time to see Hannah swing the hammer into the man's stomach, killing him instantly.

Hannah collapsed at the side of her father's body. "Father!" she cried, "I could have stopped him!" Rose stood behind Hannah as she sobbed, "I could have stopped him before he..." she then started a fit of tears, as the other three comforted her and I stood back guilty.

* * *

A day later, we stood near an open cliff, and a new mound of dirt over Hannah's father's body. She was kneeling down in front of it, while Rose stood by her side as comfort and Sparrow on her other side. Alex stood next to Sparrow, while I stood on the opposite side of the grave near a monk.

With almost all of her tears dried up, Hannah stated in a solid tone, "I'm sorry, father. Not that I broke my vow, but that I didn't break it sooner. I never did fit into this place... We both knew that. And now I'm making a new vow; Lucien will pay for what he did to you. I won't break this one."

From the left of me, the man who came in to tell Hannah of her father's trouble, said, "Sister Hannah- the blessing." Hannah stood up, and Rose let her walk over and look out to the sea. "You do it," she replied evenly.

I looked back over to Robin, who nodded silently. "As new life rises, so shall we. As the seed returns to the earth, so do we all." with a polite bow, the two monks left. "Is that it, then?" Hannah asked as she turned. "My father's gone. The Golden Oak is flourishing again. So life just goes on as before, does it?" I looked down, and from _absolutely and utterly nowhere_ Theresa showed up, causing Rose to back up onto Sparrow.

"The other monks may believe that, but your eyes have been opened." the seer stated, and Hannah backed up. "Where did you come from? Who are you?"

Without even skipping a beat, the seer replied, "Someone who can tell you much about Lucien. Where he is, what his plans are, and how you can gain revenge. If you will listen."

Hannah's face turned to a smile, "I want to know _everything._"

"Then come with me, Sister Hannah."

With a smile aimed towards us, she said, "Call me Hammer." Theresa held out a hand, and Hannah accepted it, the two dissolving into a splash of blues.

"_I've taken Hammer to the Guild. And we are one step closer to defeating Lucien. Perhaps you should upgrade your equipment. Come back to the Guild when you are ready." _Theresa said through the seal and I turned to my three friends who were standing in the spot Hannah Hammer just was. "So are you three going to talk to me?" I asked quietly, not really expecting an answer.

"You could have told us what was going to happen," Alex stated, nudging Rose to say something, "Wha- oh yeah! What she said!" she nodded. Rose was definitely on my side since she's already played the game through before.

"I like to keep suspense," I stated thoughtfully, as I walked down the hill and out through the gates, "Spoilers!" I yelled over, setting myself to go to the bar here in Oakfield to help with bartendering.

The only questions the guy asked was something along the lines of this;

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Can you handle yourself pretty well?"

"Do the blood-stains on my shirt not say enough?"

"How do I know they're not your blood-stains?"

"Are you going to hire me or not?"

"Yes, yes I am."

And after that I spent the whole night in the bar, while Alex and Sparrow went to chop wood and Rose traveled back to Bowerstone for the night to take charge of some of the sales.

* * *

About two and a half days later, we were all back in Oakfield, standing in front of the weapons stall and our money was pooled together so we could buy some new equipment.

"Alex, are you willing to part with that rusty thing for something else? Maybe an iron axe?"

She nods. "It keeps rusting when I use it."

I nodded, and put over 734 coins for her. "We'll get about 296 coins for the mace..." I looked over to Rose, "And pour vous... deux mille neuf cent treize-six... or 2,936- a steel axe." I looked at the remaining coins, which Sparrow and I pocketed.

"What are we waiting for? We've gotta get to the Guild!" Rose stated, and used her seal before any of us could stop her. "Rosie- You... Forgot your sword." Alex picked it up, used her seal and returned to the Guild.

I shook my head, and Sparrow and I went back to the Guild.

* * *

**Wow that was long! SEE I SHALL DO IT LIKE THIS FOR NOW ON, OUI? I'm not sorry for the French, je suis francaise bien sûr. ^-^ I had to look up the accents. xD Je suis aussi americaine... Mais, hope y'all enjoyed this. I'm going to get right to work on the next chapter like ****_right now_****. So yeah. Au revoir~! ~Ray.**


	7. Fires, Fighting and Figuring it out

Upon entering the Guild, the other three were already there before I got here, "There you are," Theresa stated, as I walked up the steps. I stood next to Rose on the end.

"I believe the next of the Heroes, the Mage; is in Brightwood. There is a powerful will-user there called Garth." she turned to Sparrow. "Do you remember that name? He was there the night Lucien killed Rose."

Then our Rose opened her mouth. "I _died?!_"

I sighed, and patted her head. "Sparrow's sister, Rose."

"Oh." she said, then was quiet.

Hammer, forgetting us, got the attention of Theresa, "You didn't tell me that! How are we supposed to trust him?"

Theresa turned to Hammer, shuffling her stance slightly, "Garth believed Lucien's interest in the Old Kingdom was purely academic, like his own. And Lucien, for his part, thought Garth was merely a brilliant scholar. When each learned the truth about the other, the partnership ended. Violently."

Then she turned to us, "You will find Garth in Brightwood Tower. I have seen a vision of him toiling with some ancient technology there. Surely he intends to stop Lucien, but he cannot do so without help. Go and inform him of our intent."

As the five of us started walking, Theresa stopped us. "Hammer, you should remain here." "Why? I'm ready." "With Lucien still searching for Heroes, it's safest if you're here." she stopped walking and stood back in her regular spot,

"Fine. But don't think you're going to hold me back when the action starts." she looked over to us, "My father thought is faith would protect him from the world. I won't make the same mistake." Hammer walked over to a different side of the Guild.

"Go now," Theresa stated, and Alex didn't move.

"Ally? Come on, we've got stuff to do," I said, with a giggle, until she stopped me.

"Don't call me Ally. And can I stay here with Hammer? You said it's not safe to be out."

"Yeah, can I stay too?" Rose asks.

I sighed, "What, do you want to stay too, Sparrow?"

She shook her head. "No, I want to go."

"Then Sparrow and Rebecca, you will go." Theresa told us, and we nodded leaving the two... After I took Rose's axe.

Sparrow and I found ourselves in Brightwood, after the 30 minute journey through Bower Lake.

"Someone.. or something is here... I've never felt anything like it."

Theresa said. Not fully understanding her, Sparrow and I shrugged and made our way to the top of the Brightwood Tower.

The only scary things we found was a group of hobbes, which was gone just as fast as it was here. About a few minutes before we met the gates of the Tower, we saw a large object floating above us. "What is that?" Sparrow asked from my side. "That's a shard."

And before I could say anymore, it shot down electricity to the ground and these big guys were there. "What are they?" Sparrow inquired as she readied a spell. "Spire guards. So many questions, so little time."

Knocking out the first six weren't that hard, but when they kept _appearing_, made it seem almost impossible.

When at last we made it to the top, a barricade of boxes on fire separated us from Garth. From over it, we heard Garth yelling, "I'm never going back there! You hear me?!" the commandant oh yes the commandant he replied, "You're wrong!"

"You think I'm scared of _you?_ You're a freak! Lucien's _failed_ experiment, nothing more!"

"You left too soon, Garth. Lord Lucien's experiment was a radical success."

The commandant broke the magic ring around Garth. "You are coming with me." then in a flash of lightning, the two were transported.

"There was nothing you could do,"

Theresa emphasized, "_It appears the commandant owns a shard, an old kingdom relic. Lucien's inventions could only get worse. Come back to the Guild._"

I sighed sadly, then returned to the Guild with Sparrow.

Sparrow and I walked inside silently, the four turning to face us. "Sounds like you could've used my help after all," Hammer stated, looking over to Theresa, "I knew I should have come!"

Ignoring her, Theresa said, "We cannot allow Lucien to keep Garth. You must get him out of there." I nodded silently.

Rose, walked in, cutting everyone off, "Wait... 'There' being the Spire? Oh there is no way I'm going in there,"

"Yeah," Hammer added, "And we don't even know what's inside it, much less how to get there."

"There is one who might know," Theresa said.

Then Alex, Rose, Sparrow and Hammer turned to me.

"No, not Rebecca... Though she does know." the seer replied and I sent a smile her way. "When Lucien left for the Spire, he essentially abandoned his staff. His old butler- Jeeves, now spends his days in the Cow and Corset."

"His _butler?_" Alex asked seriously, "I'd bet he'd seen _everything_ Lucien's done."

"Well," Hammer stated from the other side of the 'room', "If it means a trip to the pub, we'll just have to make that sacrifice..."

Then as she started going again, Theresa stopped her, "The task requires tactic and delicacy. Something I believe you're unfamiliar with, Hammer."

After a long and uncomfortable silence, Theresa asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"This is the part where you say 'no offense'. Looks like you two are on your own, again..." Rose and Alex followed Hammer to the other side of the 'room'.

As Sparrow and I were about to question it, Theresa said, "There is no time to waste, go now. Go to the Cow and Corset and talk to Jeeves." With a silent shrug, Sparrow and I transported ourselves to Bowerstone Market.

At the very last room in the Cow and Corset, was Jeeves talking to himself. He was muttering on about 'concubines' and 'money'. Sparrow and I readied ourselves, and walked into the room where he was.

"I see you! Well, well, well! Another offer? Dear me, so many inquisitive minds. So many who wish to know Lucien's dirty little secrets. Well everything you want to know is written down; and I know where. And here's something else that's written down; my price. Don't let anyone else see it."

I was handed the note, and I opened it up to see 'One Thowsande Goldde Peeces and Notte a Panny Less!'.

I looked up to him, and he continued, "That's my final offer; take it or leave it. Lucien's diary is a riviting read. I assure you. I'm sure some private collector will make a nice place for it in his equally private home. Now unless you've got a proposition, I suggest you leave me to my whisky." I sighed loudly, turning to Sparrow.

"We'll pay you're 'one thowsande goldde peeces'." I reported, and pulled out my money bag from my bigger bag and handed it to him. "Thanks! It's a juicy collection, I assure you, you won't regret it! I buried Lucien's diary for safekeeping. Here's a map to the location," he handed Sparrow a map, and there seemed to be a poem on the back. I'd look at it later.

"I would show you where it is, myself. But I have some money to spend!" then he left.

"He's far too cowardly to double-cross you. The map will lead you to the diary."

Theresa informed us, and Sparrow and I went to Bower Lake.

"No, no. But get this, Sparrow. 'Lest the fire waters I am so fond of imbibing these days burn the memory from my mind, here are the instructions for finding Lord Lucian's diaries. Perhaps I can sell them one day and make a profit off the old tyrant. In Bower Lake, lying in the shadow of the hill named after Heroes, are the stumps of three trees. In that spot have I buried his diary.' Wow, seriously?" I laughed, folding the paper and putting it into my bag.

Forgetting what was here, I just walked up to the spot like it was no big deal. Then out of the ground came the Forest Troll. _Oh great._ Sparrow pulled out her crossbow, shooting the little worms that control the troll.

About ten minutes later, it seemed to sink back into the ground. Basically, Sparrow and I were just happy it was gone. In victory, Sparrow dug up the diary, it coming out in a large book. It was filled with strange signs and odd runic characters... Yep, I couldn't read it.

"Good work. But it will do you no good without a translation, bring it to the Guild." I nodded, and Sparrow and I took the small walk up the Heroes Hill, back to the Guild. I walked up from the cullis gate and was noticed immediately.

"Welcome back," the seer greeted, and Sparrow and I walked up the steps. "I trust finding the diary was not too difficult?" at this, Sparrow and I glanced at each other and shook our heads. "Now, bring it to me, I will translate it for you." I approached her and handed the book over.

Huddled around the table, Theresa began flipping pages.

"You can read that? But... Your eyes are, you know." Hammer reported.

Theresa replied, "I see other worlds than this one."

"And in other worlds you can see? I don't understand."

"Shh!" she was silent for a few moments before continuing, "Westcliff. Lucian's recruiting guards from Westcliff."

"Westcliff? It's a dump! Full of brawlers and thugs. The only thing there is that arena." Hammer replied.

"The Crucible," Sparrow piped in, "Those who win it are physically tough but mentally weak. Lucian is recruiting the winners as guards. You must enter the Crucible in Westcliff, and emerge victorious. It is the only way into the Spire- the only way we can save Garth.

"At last, some action!" Hammer yelled, excited. "Meet me by the bandit road in Brightwall. Last one there's a rotton hobbe!" she ran off to the cullis gate, and left.

Paying no mind to that, we left with our Guild seals.

Even with that, we still managed to lose. Running, we found Hammer already there at the arch to get to Westcliff. "What, did you get a job, buy a house? I've been here for ages! Right, let's go." and we followed her off into the Bandit Coast.

* * *

**Hey there, everyone! Short-ish chapter apologies. ^^" Hopefully two chapters in one day makes up for it? :) I'm still not sure how I'm going to do the Crucible thing... I think we might have to all go in...**

***whispers***

**Alone. o.O**

**Yes, I know it sounds scary and there's a chance we could all like... die and stuff. But hey, Sparrow will for sure win! :D**

**Positive reinforcement, Ray. _Positive._**

**Okay, anyway. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. ^-^ Any reviews or anything to improve on will help. And a decision about the Crucible would help tons.**

**Merci, au revoir!**

**~Ray.**


	8. Mister Mad-Dog, Sir

A loud groan from me got the attention of Sparrow's dog, who padded over to me and pushed his cold nose into my hand in a way to say 'since you're getting tired, you can pet me.' Thanks, dog, but I think I'll pass. I did give him a soft tousle, and he wandered back over to Sparrow.

Nearing the rainy, forestry area of Bandit's coast; it turns out Alex felt really at home in this setting.

All it did to me was freak me out.

"I thought this area was controled by bandits?" Hammer asked aloud, and I shrugged.

"It is," I replied evenly. I looked back over to Rose and Alex as if to say 'Don't worry; I didn't give away anything important, guys.' They just responded with a shake of their heads.

We neared what reminded us of Thag's camp from when we first started out. It was another bandit settlement, oh what fun those are.

"Charming architecture. Looks like sharp, pointy logs are all the rage around here," Hannah reported with a laugh and Alex impersonated one of the bandits from Thag's camp. "I wonder where everyone is," Rose questioned, as we walked under an arch of 'sharp, pointy logs'.

I saw a few sleeping bags lying on the ground, and from behind a few trees, the bandits popped up from nowhere.  
"At last! Some action!" Hammer yelled, and swung her hammer against a bandit's skull; the damage instant to his health.

"Good one, dude!" Rose yelled over happily, ducking from a deadly swipe from a bandit near her. "Sir, I don't believe that was very nice!" she chided, taking the sword from his hand and kicking him to the ground. "Oh and here's your sword back..." she took the blunt weapon, and shoved it through his chest, and into a few inches of the dirt.

"Holy... Rosie!" Alex yelled, stunned she would ever do such a thing. "Sorry, he got on my nerves."

Up a little more, there were only a few more bandits, but they were gone in no time.

Up a staircase, Hammer yelled, "There's some more! Let's get 'em!"

The bandits tried as hard as they could to run when they saw Hammer, but she got every last bandit she saw.  
And I mean every last one.

When she went up for oxygen, I laughed behind her and put a soft hand on her back. "Wow, dude. You sure you've never fought before?"

"Not at all." she remarked immidiately.

"Natural fighter... Like yours truly," Alex reported with a smile which I slapped at.

"Hey, you two! Stop that or I'll get my sword out!"

We both apologized in our languages; French and German, and we pressed on through Rookridge.

* * *

"o-OH OH EYYEEMM OOHH OH I'M STILL ALIVE EY-EY I OHHH! I'M STILL ALIVE YEAH-" I sang until I was abruptly interrupted by Rose and Alex elbowing me.

"THIS IS A TERRIBLE AUDIENCE. GOODBYE FRIENDS, I AM GONE." As I started to walk away, Alex and Rose tiredly grabbed onto both sides of my arm and dragged me along.

"Of course..." I sighed, closed my eyes and allowed myself to be dragged through the rest of the Bandit Coast.

* * *

The 14 hour journey to Westcliff wasn't as glamorous as it sounded- that is if it did. We'd taken a break for just a few hours, and we'd get back on the road when it was a bit lighter outside.

But right now, the five of us were sitting down, munching on some food we'd gotten before we left. I was chewing on a piece of gum I had with me, just one of the many packages I still had with me. Luckily, I hadn't opened them and they were covered in plastic whenever I had to swim somewhere.

"Hey, Sparrow?" I asked quietly, as we sat down for a moments rest. "Yeah?" "I was wondering... What happened to those cards that Theresa gave you before we went to Oakfield?" "Oh, those cards? I have them somewhere in my bag, just pass it to me."

I picked up the bag the furthest from me, two bags down from mine, and passed it back to Sparrow. She unzipped a pocket, revealing the cards.

I poked Alex, who was sleeping. And got Rose's attention, who was telling a story about a camping adventure to Hammer.

"Shh, guys it's story time." I whispered, and the three looked over to Sparrow.

"Okay, first is the Pilgram," she smiled over to Hammer, as she was referencing her, "This Hero has great spirit, and awesome strength. But it is not yet unleashed. The Pilgram's path is to the North."

"Wow," the mentioned laughed afterwards. "I wonder what's up north..?"

"Next, next!" Rose chimed, excited.

"Okay, okay. The next is the Mage. The Mage follows where wisdom leads, but always into conflict. Making an ally of this Hero will cost you much."

"That's Garth," I reported, now lying on the ground, and my chin being held by my palm. "How many have you got left?" I asked.

She went through the cards, counting every one. "Four."

I smiled, just waiting to see what they could have possibly made for myself.

"The Siren's next," Rose perked up to see what it said. "This Hero's singing voice can easily draw a crowd- but be careful which song you listen to. The Siren's good soul will make sure it's only used for good."

"...The Shrewd," Sparrow stated and I shook my head, "Aw naw, son. I'm not ready." I put my hands over my eyes.  
Completely ignoring me anyway, she continued on, "The Shrewd believes she's always correct, even when she's not. Her knowledge exceeds the Mage's, and it may or may not be used for good."

I frowned right after, my eyes going wide, "Woah whoa, let's not run to any conclusions here..."

"The Giver... This Hero is more than selfless, and only thinks of other people around her. In the long run, they are admired for the trait. While she may be kind and giving, she won't hesitate to kill you."

"EXACTLY. NAILED IT."

"Lastly is the Thief," Sparrow announced and I gulped. "Reaver," I muttered silently.

"This Hero harbors a soul without a glimmer of light. I see choked weeds and water. He lies just out of reach." we all just frowned silently to ourselves as we quietly put ourselves to sleep.

* * *

"I've heard a lot of stories about Westcliff," Hammer mumbled as we walked into the dark forests that is Westcliff.

"It's supposed to be infested with balverines, right?" Sparrow asked, looking over to the previous speaker.

"Exactly."

Walking a bit forward, we saw one.

And to tell you readers the truth.

I was terrified.

I remembered balverines from the game, of course; I just wasn't sure I'd know how to fight one... In real life. I uncomfortably charged up my inferno spell, knowing only Sparrow can do real damage to these... things... It ran off, I forgot the first stays with you until the end of Westcliff.

But walking forward a bit, it was safe to say I was relieved I didn't tell the girls to put their weapons away. Two balverines came down, I unknowingly lobbed a fireball at one of them, not expecting it to do any damage. It really just made them light on fire, and get electrocuted, when Sparrow adds to it.

In a few minutes, they were all gone.

"HAHA, TAKE THAT LOSERS!" I exclaimed, accidentally letting a fireball out of my hands, falling next to one of my friends.

"REBECCA, BE CAREFUL."

"DESOLE."

After we walked a bit more, Hammer spoke up. "Well this is a inviting little forest. Cosy."

"Indeed," Alex added.

And after a few balverines, we saw this woman standing there. Hammer approached her with a concerned expression, but I knew better.

"Balverines attacked us! They killed my husband! They killed my Frederick." the lady reported and I rolled my eyes.

"It's all right, you're safe with us," Rose smiled, and walked over to her.

"They took my son."

"Could you show us where they took him?" Hammer added, as she walked over to Rose.

"I...I think so." I walked in the back of our group, glaring at the woman as we walked across a bridge.

* * *

We entered the Howling Halls, called that for a reason.

Though it'd be spoiled if I tell.

We walked inside, it being yet another freakin' cave, which we've been spending a lot of time in these days. I silently followed the others being careful I didn't get too close; or my friends getting too close to that... thing. I looked up as they strolled along, seeing a reflection of a balverine in the shreds that was a ceiling once.

It turned every which-way and then followed the path it was going. I shook my head silently as I folowed my group quietly.

The woman, who we learned to be called 'Lilith', began making up a story about her 'husband' and 'child'. How little Jonothan was seven years old, and was in school. Her husband was an accountant, and they were going to Westcliff for their anniversary.

What a load of crap.

We neared the area we'll spend at least a half hour in, mainly because we'll have to fend off balverines. Isn't that just wonderful? "What is this place..?" Hammer mused aloud, as Lilith stood next to a column. Her eyes turned white, her voice getting lower as she spoke, "Children, I bring you flesh."

The others turned to me, "What?!"

By this time, my fire was charged up and I'd thrown it at a balverine on top of another column. "Spoilers!" I yelled like River Song, or Melody Pond.

After a nice round of killing balverines, they stopped for a solid minute.

"We have to find a way out of here, or we're dead!" Hammer shouted, taking a quick rest.

"_She's right, you must get out of there immediat_ely." Theresa reported, and the four shook their heads at me silently.

"I can't see anything past that pit," Sparrow pointed out. "We've gotta get out of here somehow," Rose yelled throwing her hands up in exhaustion. Hammer looked over to Alex, who was staring up at a cracking column.

"What are you looking at- oh that pillar looks weak! One bridge coming up, keep those buggers off me!" We tiredly blocked the balverines out of the way of Hammer as she pushed down the pillar.

A loud two minutes later, the pillar found itself in the middle of the pit.

"Let's go, we're leaving!" Hammer announced as it fell. I shrugged silently as we walked across, and out of the halls.

* * *

It seemed as though happy and victorious music played as we walked out of the cave. "SUNLIGHT!" Rose belted, and fell onto the ground. "I MISS-ED YOU, DIRT."

"Ugh, dude calm it." I stated, picking my friend off the ground. We walked through the gates, no not quietly, are you kidding me? And straight up to the doors of the Crucible entrance.

There were two men standing at the top who stopped us, the scruffier man on the right said to the posher one on the left, "Look, Murray. Another group of nobodies trying to get into the Crucible. Doesn't anyone know you've gotta be famous to fight here?"

"Terribly sorry," the nicer man, Murray, replied in a nicer tone, "But I'm afraid this is a rather brutal business." As if having Hammer, and blood-stains splattering our clothing, he went on, "And it's not just the bloodspurting decapitations. People only pay to see hte big names. Like Willy Widowmaker or Vicegrip Sally."

"Not a bunch of unknowns!" the man on the right reported.

"Oh yeah, well what's your name?" Hammer asked.

The man's astonished look on his face almost made me laugh, "Me? Everyone knows me! I'm Mad-dog 'The Strangler' McGraw!" the other man nodded, "Best Crucible fighter there was, back in his day."

Hammer scoffed a bit from beside Rose, "Bit reduntant, isn't it?"

Mad-dog turned his head to the side as he inquired, "What? What do you mean?"

Rose continued for Hammer as she continued thoughtfully, "Why do you need the 'Strangler' part if you're already a mad-dog?"

The man seemed to not know how to reply, until he said, "Well. It's intimidating, innit." I laughed from behind the group. "Seems pretty confusing to me."

Hammer nodded, "I mean, I get Irving 'The Strangler' Gibbons; it toughens it up, doesn't it? But it's not like Mad-Dog's your given name."

The other man, Murray, turned to him, "You know I never thought about it before. They do have a point." The man shook his head furiously, also turning, "No they don't! Look: If you really wanna compete, go and make a name of yourself, so the crowd'll actually give a flying..."

"Luck." Murray cut in, "That's all you need. A bit of luck and you'll be famous in no time."

"No way I'm letting you," he pointed to Hammer, "You," he pointed to Rose, "Or you." and the unwashed ridiculing finger lastly pointed to me. "You can stay out here and make fun of my name all you like." "Impressive display, you three. You have managed to alienate the very men whose favor we need." Theresa chided, as we started to walk away.

"Only one of them," Hammer added thoughtfully, as Rose laughed.

"Alex and Sparrow, you must find a way to impress those men. There are still many people in the world whom you could help- or harm. Whether you do good or evil, your reputation will be made." The two still in the game nodded.

"Mad-Dog, seriously.. And I thought monks were dumb..." Hammer muttered quietly, and I smiled cheerily as we found a quest for the two to do.

"Why are you so happy, Beck? We just got kicked out of the Crucible!" Rose complained, as she poked my arm.

"Excuse me, ma'am. There's no way I'd ever go into that place. All of you could do it; just not me." The two still able to go, decided to go help a farmer called Giles. And I couldn't be more excited.

* * *

**Whoaaa long chapter is long. xD I hope y'all enjoyed that! I'm not even anywhere near the south, and I keep saying 'y'all' and I don't know why. But one thing!**  
**HEY MICHAELA! :D :D **  
**She's mah buddy from Computer Science, and I gave hur a shout out finally. Only took eight chapters. ^-^**  
**Anyway, next is zee Crucible!**  
**...Maybe.**  
**oHONHON YOU'LL 'AVE TO WAIT ET SEE, MES POTES. Sorry, the French just kinda got me there. But anyway, now to the Crucible! We'll be going in alone. I must confess this; I will not be going into the Spire. I will go to Bloodstone. I'll change POV's for the first time this whole story. Since Hammer, Rose and I screwed up, the only people going into the Spire will be Sparrow and Alex. Rose will stay with me and Hammer. We'll make a name for ourselves, for when Reaver's there. Alex and Sparrow will be back in 10 years, after their disturbing trip to the Spire. The two will try their best to rebel, and in front of guards, they appeared ruthless to the prisoners and behind their backs they give them food. That way, when they return they're just as sane as they are before, got it? I know if Alex gets any more disturbed than she is now, things will be effed up.**  
**Anyway, long description is long... Yet another long thing. But hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before the break that starts on the 21st.**

**I totally made ****_everything_**** up about the Hero card things, so don't kill me if it's awful! ^^"**

**But that's it! Au revoir!**

**~Ray.**


	9. Justice, Hollowmen and get in there

Third person POV:

_Isn't it just frickin' great that Beck, Hammer and Rosie screwed up their chances of getting into the crucible? That just left Sparrow and myself to do the dirty work. _Alex thought annoyingly as Sparrow and her walked through Brightwood. They were doing Cold Comfort Farmer, as Beck instructed them to go help this Giles guy.

"So my foot's totally stuck in there right, I'm freaking out, the dog's having a seizure and I still got half a pie left." Alex stated, laughing and Sparrow following the other. The story was cut short as they entered the land of Giles, his farm.

Alex walked up quietly onto the porch, and knocked on the old wooden door. And old, deep voice on the inside asked, "What? If you're back to taunt me, you'll regret it!" the door opened and the man was pointing a gun at the two, the American putting her hands up to hide from the man.

"Oh... What do you want, then? Apologies, stranger... Welcome to my... farm. What can I help you with?" Sparrow ignored the girl from beside her and replied to the man in the cabin, "We're here to help you fight against Ripper."

He sent a smile their way, "Thank you, thank you. Remember... Take him alive if you can," she nodded, "Sure thing. Will do."

And a short walk later, the third time in the past month the two found themselves in yet another bandit camp. After a round of fighting a group of Ripper's guards, the male seemed to fall from nowhere.

With an ending just like Thag's, except for the death he put his hands up in a mock defense. "I give, y-you can't kill me. That would be wrong. Very wrong." he replied and Alex looked over to Sparrow, "We'll spare you," the other replied and Giles ran up from his farm and over to the two holding the bandit.

"I'll never forget this," he told the two in an endearing tone, then turned to Ripper. "And you... I've dreamt about this moment ever since... Ever since..."

"Don't bore me with your dreams, old guard," the other replied in a cocky tone.

"You- you're going to pay, Ripper."

"Yeah, yeah," the other acknowledged with a slight wave of his large hand. "Just take me to your pig-sheriff already. It's not like I ain't been locked up before. I could use the holiday."

"I don't think so," the other responded and whipped out his gun, pointing it at the bandit.

"What? No, it wasn't me! It was one of my men! Please, adventurers, talk to him!"

"No..." the other man replied, letting his gun drop the slightest bit, "She wouldn't have wanted this. You're coming to Bowerstone with me. And you're gonna hang, I'll make damn sure of it."

* * *

Only one more chore left for the two to do, that'd be The Summoner. In which the two would emplore their skills of fighting to stop these two idiot's grand master plan to read from a book.

...I'm already spoiling too much, aren't I.

The two again had to go find another quest to do, this time they traveled to Old Town, Alex being careful on what to talk about with Sparrow.

The two brothers near the entrance of the cemetary were talking to each other as they strolled near them.

"It was your fault, you're the one who found the book."

"You're the one who read the words! It's your fault."

"You're the one who said I was chicken because I wouldn't read it in the first place. Ha!"

"Yes, but you're the one who... hey, look!" the two brothers turned to the female travelers, as the one on the left, who'd they learned was called Sam; said, "You have to help us!" then together, they both accused, "He raised the dead!"

"Okay you two, we've got it. We'll take care of your problem," Sparrow announced politely.

"Oh thank you! You see, we read aloud to this book called the Normanomicon," Max stated, as the other started to complain and point fingers again, "You're the one who found it, remember."

"Yes, and you're the one who read... nevermind... The thing is,"

"We accidently summoned a few hollowmen."

"...A few hundred."

"And now they have the book!"

"Only because you dropped it, you big girl."

Alex glared over to the boys, "Remember who you're asking to do this, you big boys."

They both apologized, and Sam replied, "We need you to clear the graveyard so we can get the book back and put them all back where they came from. Where do you think they came from?"

"I don't know, you summoned them!"

"Next time you wanna explore graveyards hit yourself with a mallat instead."

Next to the bickering boys, Alex shook her head and spoke up, "You two can settle your differences, while we go take care of the work. Ciao~." then pushing through the two males, she went into the Cemetary with Sparrow.

* * *

The ground seemed to shake, everyone was running the opposite direction from them. To make sure they weren't dragged along and out of the cemetary, the two held out their weapons to show they were here to come defeat the monsters plauging their stay.

With a three-star shock spell, Sparrow was able to knock down hollowman after hollowman. Learning a new strength ability, Alex was able to hit her targets better than ever before.

With twenty dead, the two needed to go to a different area of the cemetary.

Under the bridge they were attacked.

Walking to a deeper part of the cemetary they were attacked.

And again, out of nowhere they were attacked.

Until only twenty hollowmen were left, they went to where it'd actually make sense for them to be, is where they went.

Alex was knocked out for a few seconds.

_Fifteen left_. Sparrow thought thoughtfully to herself as she failed to notice her fallen friend. _Just a few more and we can go into the Crucible and save Garth!_

When there were only ten left, Alex got up. "Th-thanks, I'm fine." She told Sparrow quietly until the other turned, "Hm? What happened?" "I got knocked out... Would it kill hollowmen to get better equipment?" Alex joked as the other shook her head.

With a big slash and in a flash of powder and ashes, the last hollowmen was gone.

Out of nowhere, the doors to a tomb opened leading to the Normanomicon. Sparrow walked inside, picking up the book heroically. It emits a cold aura and appeared to be bound in human skin.

Shrugging silently to herself, Sparrow retreated and she and Alex went back to Old Town to give the brothers the book back.

* * *

Walking back into town, Sparrow held out the book to Sam, who took it and opened it up to a random page. "Right. What page was the 'undo' spell on? Oh here we are. Tantir! Barada! Kanda!" the man next to him shouted, "Mukluk! What?"

Then they were gone and Alex and Sparrow smiled as they rested for a bit.

"That's it, almost everyone has heard of you in Westcliff. You can go back to the gatekeepers now,"

Theresa spoke and the two went back to Westcliff.

* * *

Beck's POV:

I stood outside the Crucible with Rose and Hammer, waiting for Alex and Sparrow to arrive. Then in a flash of loud yelling, Sparrow and Alex came out when people cheered them on their way in.

"Hey, good luck in there!" Hammer yelled over the people. "We nearly missed the big entrance!" I shouted after her, "That'd be Rose's fault!" "Sorry, I wanted food!"

I gave them a last few bits of advice, be sure to use the traps in a few battles to keep the crowd excited, be careful not to get knocked out. Every three rounds there will be a trader, and buy potions there.

When I though they were at last ready, we hugged the two, sending them off in fist-bumps. I threw Sparrow Rose's gun because it'll be useful in a few battles.

"We'll be cheering for both of you!" I called up encouragingly. My bestest friend sent me back down a thumbs up.

Sparrow's dog wasn't allow inside, so he came back down by us. The two walked in and the other two and myself shared glances and I shook my head firmly.

Let's just hope we can get in to watch a few rounds. I'm sure they'll do just fine.

* * *

Third person POV:

With an 'encouraging' speech delivered by Mad-Dog and Murray, the two were sent in. They found themselves amongst four other contenders. One lady in the back with a crossbow strapped to her back, one seemed to be a monk who was holding a bible, a bandit and lastly what appearedt to be a little girl.

Alex, amused, walked over to her, "Greetings, I am Gorgoron, the Soulslicer. Scourage of all that is holy and pure. Fruit gum?" Alex held back a laugh as she waved to the small 'child'. "Actually, I'm down to my last few. I've been saving all all the blackcurrent flavor one. Do not be fooled by my appearance, I am a master of disguise, able to take any form, trick an enemy, to win any fancy dress contests. But I am evil, very evil."

The taller nodded, "I see. Evil, very evil."

A male's scream was heard inside the doors and after an uncomforable silence, the 'soulslicer' spoke, "...Gorgoran wants his mummy."

The man standing at the door turned to the six people standing. "Right, who's next then?" the bandit turned to the man and spoke, "Oh, well I'd love to, wouldn't I. Yeah, but still got this whole ethical entanglement to mull over. Er, yeah."

The attention was to the monk and he was just as apprehensive as the first, "Ah, um, I would certainly embrace this opportunity... But I-I I'm er, um... still waiting for my lucky robes to come back from the cleaners."

The lady with the crossbow spoke next, "Well I can't go on next. My crossbow's got an awful... cold."

Then lastly, Gorgoron was next and she stammered, "Do not look at Gorgoron. Gorgoron has an ingrowing toe-nail right now. An evil toe-nail!"

Since nobody else volunteered, or more like was there, the guard looked to Alex and Sparrow. "You two! The new lasses, it's your lucky day. Get your arses in there. You might want to read up on the rules. Not that most contenders can read..." he stopped his speech and Sparrow picked up the heavy book, flipping a few pages as they went inside.

* * *

**A/N: oH EMM GEEE. #CLIFFHANGAH. I'm not sorry for this, not at all. That's one thing you'll have to learn about my writing; don't expect me to be sorry. That was mainly the two quests our girlies had to do before they got into the Crucible. Tomorrow is Wednesday the 18, and my family and I will be shopping for Christmas presents, we did Secret Santa this year. ^-^ And in case if my brother is reading this (because I have it bookmarked on the computer in the living room) I can't tell you who I have! D: Or if any of my friends'll tattle on me, then nope can't tell. I'll tell you when Christmas is over and if they like their present.**

**One more shoutout!**

**Hello to Alyssa, Taylor, Jessica or Beth from French II. ^-^ I'll post this on Wattpad _and_ Fanfiction, whichever one you'll read.**

**I may have the next one posted in two to three days. So enjoy this for now. Au revoir, mes amis! :D**

**~Ray.**


	10. The Crucible

"Here we are, Mad-Dog. Once again at the gates of bloodshed and greatness, as yet another competitor face the challenge of... The Crucible!" Mr. Allen Murray proclaimed in an excited voice. Sparrow recalled Beck telling them this was the level with hobbes. She'd learned weapons were the best to deal with beetles, and she wanted to get all perfect rounds. And for a first try, it was said to be nearly impossible. But she had her weapons, abilities and Alex.  
The two stepped in the middle, and as if on cue, Murray stated, "Round one. Three, two one, go!" Sparrow took out her sword, Murray continuing by saying something about a first wave. There was 1:45 ticking down on the invisible clock the two made in their heads. There was no way they were dying this early in the games.

Or in the games at all.

"Buh! Those cruddy, grubby, vile beetles! I hate them!" Mad-Dog complained to the other, as Sparrow smashed open the mentioned thing. "Well let's see how the new girls like them!" Alex got a few more from behind Sparrow, and used the gun to pop off a few behind herself. "Second wave."

A new round of beetles meant another charging shock spell from Sparrow, and those took out a lot of them. After Sparrow's beetles were gone, she looked over to Alex, who was in a pickle. Sparrow rolled over, kicking herself up on her feet and effectively bringing her sword up on another beetle and killing it.

"Can our plucky newcomers keep our bloodthirsty audience entertained? They better, or they won't be throwing down any gifts to help her out!" Gifts? Alex thought as the third wave came down. Beck never said anything about gifts! "Entertaining."

When there were two beetles left, Sparrow looked over to Alex, who was trying to get the gun out of her back strap. Another beetle was inching towards Alex, and ready to throw that purple ball that really hurts. "Duck, Alex!" Sparrow yelled and the other had a questioning look, but immediately did as she was told when the other held up her own gun and pointed it at the beetle. While the other was on the ground she freed her gun and pointed it at the other beetle.

The two mimicked Murray with 'three, two, one' and shot the beetles, them dying instantly. Catching their breath and an awkward silence, the two waited for the verdict.

"Perfect round!" Murray shouted with glee and Sparrow and Alex high-fived and stowed their guns away. "Well, we promised butchery, and butchery is what we delivered. And there are seven rounds to go!" Sparrow retrieved the bag of gold, which had 200 inside.

Excitedly, the two walked into the next round.

* * *

The hobbe round; Alex was not looking forward to this one. She didn't like the thought of kids dying, and after the tale she was told in Oakfield, she was not excited about this. It was the number one reason she didn't read the Hunger Games. Butseriously,it'sthenameofthegamewhatdoyouexpectittobeabout,Al.

Walking into the room, she noticed a square around the main area. Walking ahead of Alex, Sparrow stepped on this blue rhombus, which let up large, blood covered and rusted daggers up from the ground.

Sparrow held an arm out to stop Alex from stepping on the spikes and pushed her back. "Thanks," Alex muttered and walked over to the other side by yet another blue square, careful not to step on it.

Murray announced for them to begin, and they did. Utilizing their weapons the best they could, and the traps of the blue squares, they trekked on through the three waves of hobbes.

"Perfect round!"

* * *

Since the author of this story is just simply too lazy to expand on the battles, we will begin two rounds later...  
With new potions in their bag, Alex and Sparrow walked into the fifth arena. This one, as the two were told, was the bandit round. Beck had said it was 'frickin' easy' so why not give it a shot? She warned them to be careful and to use will ability, and for Alex to knock off any strays.

Climbing up to the top of the bridge, Sparrow readied her shock, and Alex pulled out her sword to get any remaining bandits. "3-2-1... Go!"

As the first wave started to show up, Sparrow threw down her shock, the bridge shaking, and two kegs of gun powder exploding and the bandits flying over the edges, and dying before they even hit the floor. Any extras that stood around after the main flock were gone, Alex got rid of by knocking over the bridge.

The two repeated this three more times until only a few bandits remained. By this time, Sparrow took out her sword, and had her own little fight with a few of the bandits. The two performed little tricks to make sure Murray and Mad-Dog didn't call them 'boring'. Like a bandit would be in Sparrow's grip and Alex would be thrown the bandit and impale them with her sword. Those little things are what makes the crowd go wild and even stand up to cheer for them.

Since it was the only bandit left, the two decided they'd entertain the crowd even more with the last one. The two rolled over twice, onto their knees; they extracted their guns and shot at the last bandit, who fell to the ground in a pile of blood.

If it was even possible, the crowd screamed even louder than before. "Perfect round!" resonated through the whole room as the two high-fived in victory. That's five perfect rounds, and only three rounds left.

* * *

The next round was bandits and highwaymen. The two things that Hammer was the best at fighting. Of course she wasn't here to help them. And unfortunately, these two were the worst with bandits. "3-2-1!" the bandits started appearing and shooting at them, the highwaymen started jabbing at them randomly, and it was nearly impossible for the two to stop them.

It wasn't until Alex backed up from a highwayman poking at her that she stepped on another one of those blue pads on the ground. Then behind her she heard screams and fire. Turning slowly, she noticed that once again this arena had another pleasant surprise. Jumping on the pad again, the remaining bandits not affected by the fire were gone.

Taking turns with Sparrow, Alex switched places of the other two remaining blue squares. Knocking off the highwaymen instead of actually fighting them didn't win them much praise from the crowd, but they'd take what they can get. The last few bandits fell and they sighed happily. "Congrats, girls on yet another perfect round!"

* * *

With a few more potions and their breath caught up, Alex and Sparrow walked into the seventh round, balverines. Sparrow was informed that they go down easily with shock, the one spell the girl chose. She readied her spell once again, and since Alex chose to be awesome by herself in Strength, she fixed her grip on her sword.

Balverine after balverine, they manifested themselves on the ground. Sparrow and Alex defeated them as best they could until there were two left, and Sparrow released the ball of energy to the closest beast near her. Alex began to slash at the other one, but it went up, she turned and it scratched at her. Trying as hard as she could to get through this without a help of shock, Alex backed up and shot, kicked, punched and hit the balverine in an attempt to kill it.

As she tried to duck and reel back, the balverine slashed one of its claws at her effectively hitting her on her abdomen. It cut through her clothes, and a bit into her stomach. With blood spilling around the wound, Alex fell onto the floor clutching her middle, "Sparrow!" she yelled, and the other, who was removing her sword from a balverine turned. "Alex! Are you all right?" "No! C-can you get this last one?" Sparrow charged up a spell as the balverine was about to pounce at her.

She threw it, and the balverine fell down and the announcer announced another perfect round. With a sigh of relief, Alex lifted her hand from her middle, regretting it immediately. She hissed with her hand released from the only thing that's been relieving her pain for the past few minutes. "Stop moving, we need to bandage this up." Taking a small break from the arena, Sparrow pulled out some bandage from her bag, and wrapped two layers around the other's middle. "Be careful, I'll get as much as I can in the next round. Just do not lift a single thing. You got me?" quickly, Alex nodded and was helped up by Sparrow.

* * *

With only Murray's voice in the background a very large rock troll came up from the ground to terrorize the two. "Oh I'm so excited I could tear your head off, Mad-Dog! We've made it! We're here! It's natures greatest abomination!"  
"Sock puppets?" the other replied as Sparrow took out her gun and shot at the large troll, shooting off one of the little bugs as it threw dirt at them. "Sock p- No! What? No! The mighty troll!" In vain, Alex lifted up her gun and shot at the troll, the backfire hitting the wound making her regret even trying to help Sparrow. Truth is, she just couldn't.  
Alex was literally staggering in the background as a few hobbes came from the other side of the troll. "Ahh! Sparrow help!" the girl screamed, as she fled from the little hobbes. "I can't help you with everything!" the girl replied indignity as she shot off one of the last little bugs.

Regaining a little strength, Alex shot off one of the little bugs and Sparrow scolded her as more hobbes ran out, "Alex, I told you; go do the easy stuff. You're hurt!" the mentioned stubbornly shook her head and replied, "Don't worry, I've got this... Let me just try this," she shot at another one of the bugs, "Actually this hurts a lot..." Shoving down a healing potion, Alex put most of her weight on a rock in the back.

Feeling better, the two aimed their guns at the last two bugs. With one last hit, the troll was done and the whole crowd went insane. They all stood up, and threw down gold as the two threw up their hands in victory.

"Unbelievable! Incredible! It's an extraordinary performance superhuman feat of inconceivable proportions! Unprecedented some might say, if they were unaware of the precedents!" "They're as worthy as a competitor as ever competed in this competition." "Indeed. All that remains is to congratulate our glorious winners. We hope you have enjoyed this most bloody and most compelling of Crucibles editions. Fare thee well gentle spectators. Until the next time!" The two received crucible trophies and exited out of the door and back to the doors of the Crucible entrance.

"Congratulations!" Allen Murray greeted them, giving them both a sturdy handshake. "Three cheers for the new Crucible champions!"

"That was something else, best Crucible in years!"

"A classic performance that will be remembered for all time. Or at least as long as there are people around to remember it."

"Best of luck, you two, hope to see you both round her again sometime."

"Certainly. Provided you don't suffer some horribly agonizing death on your travels. Bye-bye now!"

With a small crowd gathered outside, the two began walking down the steps to be greeted by Beck, Rose and Hammer.

Beck's POV:  
I met the two at the bottom of the steps, giving Alex the first hug I've given her in over a year, "That was fan_tas_tic!" I exclaimed when I let go and went to hug Sparrow. "We listened to the commentaries every step of the way." Hammer added as she hugged Sparrow after me.

Rose elbowed Alex, "We even got to see a few rounds! That one with the hobbes- absolutely awesome!" we started to walk, and I spoke up, "The Spire isn't gonna be so fun. You two should really take some time off before you go. Anyone you wanna see or anything, now is the time. Trust me." the other two nodded. "Beck, we're ready."  
I shook my head, and looked over to Sparrow. "Hey, Sparrow? There's a friend of yours who needs something here. They're on the hill overlooking the bar. Can you go speak to them? We need to fix Alex's bandage."

Sparrow nodded and left with Hammer to go see Barnum and Rose and I forced Alex to let us change her bandage. "Balls, that balverine sure got you good, didn't it?" "S-shut up! It was intimidated by me!" Rose and I nodded annoyed, and looked up to examine our work. "Awesome. Now, listen to me Alex. Do everything the commandant says. I don't give a fruk what he tells you to do. Only secretly can you be nice to people. They don't like rebellious prisoners. When you get back here you better be sharp as a fruking stick, got it?" Alex sat up and nodded. "Got it." "Don't get attached to anyone until after you're out. I want to see you back here in ten years with Garth, Sparrow and you." the girl nodded again. "Good, now go do something heroic."

Third-Person POV:

Because the author promised the real life Alex that she would finish this chapter and go to bed, Alex and Sparrow set out to do a few more quests before it was time to leave. The Defender of the Light was finished and with that, they returned to the docks.

Beck's POV:

The large wooden doors opened and Rose, Hammer and I turned. "There you both are," Hannah greeted with a small grin, "Ready to start your glorious military careers, then?" Alex nodded amused, and we started to walk down the steps.

"Well, we're here to say goodbye," Rose piped up, and wrapped an arm around Alex, the other around me.  
Sparrow and Hammer walked ahead of us and the latter spoke, "You know the last thing I said to my father before I went to the ritual cave? I can't remember... I can't remember if I said goodbye that morning or not."

Rose smiled tiredly beside me and replied, "That's the funny thing about goodbyes; you never know when you'll get another one." the look on Alex and Sparrow's face went to one of confusion, "I-I'm sorry I-I didn't mean..." I took over for Rose as she muttered apologies under her breath, "She means you'll both do great out there."

We walked to the man standing at the docks. Captain Raynards as I recalled. "Right," he stated as he looked at the two females. "No personal affects allowed on board, and no weapons. And no dogs." the dog let out a sad whimper. "Don't worry," Hammer said to Sparrow for me. "We'll look after fur-face here. And your stuff as well."

The two removed their bags and extra clothes. I'd given Alex a new shirt since her old one was covered in blood- most of it not her own. They gave it to us and I put it in a different bag I'd brought along specifically for this purpose to hold their stuff.

"All aboard!" The captain yelled, and the two left after we exchanged hugs one more time. And just like that, my best friends were gone.

Third-Person POV:

There were many men on that ship. Too many for it to be even close to Alex's liking. Even one was too much for her, however. She was sitting against the hem of the ship and a masculine voice asked her, "Mind if I sit next to you?" Alex nodded as she looked up.

He seemed fairly young. She was guessing he was in his early 20's. He had wavy, ruffled jet black tresses, although it seemed pretty smooth from her point of view. The man also had dark sapphire orbs that studied her every movement, "I'm Andrew." "Alex." he sat down and the two began to talk the whole boat-ride to the Spire.

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone! BACK! Hope you enjoyed the Crucible, it took me forevah. I've been writing all day. And since everyone in my house knows by now, my secret Santa is my mom. I just have to get her a book, and I'm done! That's about it. Uhm, yeah. Beck's bestie and Sparrow are leaving for the Spire, and she'll be super sad. Not like 'I dun wanna live anymore' depressed, just like 'I miss mah buddies' depressed. Beck's going to go live in Bloodstone. She'll be a pirate for a little over 10 years, Rose will be making a name for herself with Hammer and you should know where Sparrow and Alex will be, it's self explanatory. Any questions or anything I can help you understand, just leave them in the comments or send me a message. I can only do this on Wattpad, so the cast (if you're reading this on fanfiction) is this;**  
**Rebecca Hackett- Lindsey Stirling, but her hair is like Christina Perri's.**  
**Rose Finnley- Anne Hathaway, after she cut her hair and Mandy Moore.**  
**Alexandra Zilberschlag- Erin Sanders and Sara Gilbert.**  
**~Ray.**


	11. But Seriously

Beck's POV:

With my best friend and Sparrow sent off to the Spire for a little less than 10 years, I really had nothing to do. I've told Rose that I'd get myself to Bloodstone one way or another. I'd gotten some extra gold pieces from a few chores I did in Westcliff. I knew how much pirates loved gold; really, who doesn't know that?  
Now the only way that I knew how to get to Bloodstone is through Garth's Cullis gate. And since the other will-user went to the friggin' Spire, I had no choice.

I had to learn shock and do it myself.

If memory serves me correctly, I got just enough ability from a little side quest I did for an old lady in Westcliff. There were a few balverines around her cabin, and she wanted rid of them. And I did just that.

So before I ventured out, I realized what I was wearing wasn't exactly the most terrifying. I went to a tailor in Bowerstone. Now the people there were simply terrified of the thought of pirates. But boo hoo, let them cry to someone who cares.

Not me.

Departing from Rose and Hammer, telling them I've got something to do; and I transported myself to Bowerstone Market. I walked into the store, and shut the door after me. I explained to the man behind the counter that I needed a pirate outfit. I gave him a few examples of what I was talking about.

I closed my eyes as he measured me, and a few hours later I walked out of the door satisfied. I had a billowy white long-sleeve shirt that the man put a nice and suffocating corset under. I said if I was to wear that thing that I got to choose the color.

I kept on my jeans, they were pretty tough, so they'd make it. He got these really cool boots with buckles going up the sides and omc, they were awesome. I also got a long black coat that I'd wear around casually. I also got a nice pirate hat, with a nice long feather inside. I might wear it only sometimes.

I was told to go to the stylist and they'd fix my hair up to look better. I gave them about half of my gold, and walked to the stylists. The woman inside gave me dark eye make up, I was about almost finished with my eyeliner I had left from home. They re-dyed my hair- that's right I went black finally. The only thing is I'll need to re-dye it when I get back home, if I'll go home with this hair.

Doubt that.

She curled it, though most of my hair was already curly enough so she didn't have to do much. After that, I was finished and I paid the woman what she deserved, brought my normal clothes to the Guild Cave where Theresa would keep an eye on them for me. Finally, I transported myself to Brightwood Tower.

* * *

The thing I wasn't expecting, however, is to see a girl standing at the top in a brown colored pirate outfit. However, instead she wore an over the shoulder top and a smaller plain corset (we've had to wear them since we got here, they're super uncomfortable). She had on the same pants I had, but had black boots with one big buckle at the bottom. She had a similar coat, but it was brown instead, and atop her head sat a pirate hat. In her hand she held a large compass taking up about the whole length of her hand.

"When I was at the tailors," the girl reported smoothly in a thick Scottish accent, "They said one girl had come before me and asked to be dressed as a pirate also," she closed her compass and smiled up at me. "Rose?" I asked disbelievingly, "Yeah, it's me!" she retorted normally, and put the compass on a loop hanging from her bag. "You should have told me you were going to go be a pirate. I followed you through Bowerstone, I don't trust you on your own."

I rolled my eyes, but walked over and hugged her nonetheless. "So you're coming with me?" I asked with a smile. "Of course you big goof," she replied happily, "Hammer didn't want to come, she said Theresa needed her to do something."

I nodded in reply. "We just have to be really quiet, Spire Guards are supposed to be here while we get this thing up and running."

"Sounds normal to me, do you have the correct ability?" she responded, and stepped on the top of the Cullis gate and stomped on it. "Not yet." I retorted quietly. "Then what are you waiting for?" I shrugged silently.  
She's right, what am I waiting for.

Five minutes later, I had shock. "So what am I supposed to do..?" Rose shrugged sympathetically. "Think of lightning or something...?" I nodded and closed my eyes once again and thought of lightning.

Oh great one of these again, let's see um.. Lighting and thunder? Lighting rays? Lightning and rays, blue shock... I hope this is working because I'm actually thinki-.

With my thoughts cut short, my eyes flickered open immediately to look at the small burst of electricity from my hand. "Dude, you need to get a will ability it's totally awesome."

The latter waved it off and held out my hands towards the Cullis gate, "Just do your spell stuff, dork." I tipped my hat, "Yes, ma'am." I pushed the energy forwards and onto the cullis gate, I focused as much as I could. I imagined the marsh of Wraithmarsh, the banshees, the trolls, hollowmen. I imagined walking through Bloodstone and up to Reaver's mansio- okay maybe that won't help my concentration at all.

I cracked open one eye to see Rose staring at the Cullis gate impatiently. "You're slowing down... What are you thinking about?" I shook my head furiously, "Nothing, nothing! I can focus!"

I closed the eye again, and focused. Seriously, as if I would just unfocus myself. All right, uh right Bloodstone, where we need to go. Wraithmarsh is before it. It used to be Oakvale, which was destroyed by Reaver, thank you.

"Beck! Focus!" Rose exclaimed and I just thought even harder. Fine, fine! Back to where I was. Oakvale, Oakfield... Yeah Reaver would never live in Oakfield. There aren't any whores or brigands in sight.

Stop, stop! Okay, focus! Come on your stupid Cullis gate, just open already. "Rebecca! It's finished!" I heard Rose report and I opened my eyes to see it finished. "Finally! Let's get going!" We both stepped onto the cullis gate and were transported to Wraithmarsh.

* * *

A hard thud. That's all I felt. The concrete of the Cullis gate broke my fall. A soft 'oof' came from my Scottish companion as she landed next to me. "Damn Cullis gates," she cursed and sat up surveying the surroundings. "What do you see?" I inquired weakly, as I kept my face planted on the floor.

"...Um, marshes. That's about all." she replied evenly and I slowly lifted my head up to look where she was. She was right, I wouldn't expect her to be wrong with this. Or really anything, for that matter. I put one hand on the floor to help myself up and looked over to see Rose was already standing. "Which way?" she questions quietly and I pointed a finger to the spot where I recalled us going in the game.

And in that way, indeed; we walked. As we trekked into the drench areas of the marsh, Theresa tried to contact us, _"Good job getting here, girls. You are both alive, and that's all that matters. You've both made it to Wraithmarsh. But it turns out you both cannot leave the area, the Cullis gate has malfunctioned and you won't be able to use it for a while. So you are on your own for now. But be wary- the fog here is unnatural. Somehow... It dampens the Guild Seal. Bloodstone is on the far side of the marshes. I suggest you head there- quickly."_ I nodded silently, and looked over to Rose, who was looking around us to see where to head next.

Through a few more small areas of water, we ran into it. Yes, I mean it. The grandest of the evil creatures in Wraithmarsh; a banshee. I sympathetically looked over to Erin for help, and retrieved my sword, ready to fend it off its little minions the best I could.

* * *

**A/N: Change of plans! Turns out my Rose wants me to make her a pirate. I do what teh people want, okay. ****_BUT MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!_**** AND THIS IS ALREADY IN BOLD So I can't make it any bolder, sorry. Wait I'll fix it. Okay there, bold and italic. :3 **  
**Here's a late Christmas present for all of you. And my mom loved her present. ^-^ I got plaid blankets and if any of you know me you know that I frickin' love plaid, omc. And if any of you get where the name of the title for this chapter is from tell me omc I'll hug you, give you a shoutout or even write you in as a character. Seriously, if you know it be my new best friend. If you do, please write it in the review and what it's from. I don't even care, if you're a guy I'll let you get married to Alex or Rose. Though Alex is rather stubborn.. ^^" **  
**And extra, you guys really should read all of this if you skip some parts of the chapter, just read this and you'll know what's up. So the wonderful Erin and I were brainstorming things about our ages. We decided our ages will be much slower in Albion. I mean like seriously slow. Like we'll only age +2 years when it's been around 10 or so in Albion. That way, Alex and Sparrow can be perfectly fine in the Spire. So when they're gone, we'll only be 19 while Sparrow's 27. With that good of time we might only be 30 or so when it'd be Fable III. :D :D**  
**And if you look at the past chapter I've fixed the last names after I had a discussion with Al, so yeah. That's all. ^-^**  
**But long description is long. Hope you enjoyed this! Did you see my name in there in the beginning? xD But thankies and au revoir, mes amies!**  
**~Ray.**


	12. No Jacket Required

Third Person POV:

Day after day of being on the ship, it finally started coming close to the Tattered Spire. The ship rocked as Alex and Andrew talked silently as the guards made sure that everyone shut up.

The nice, shiny and innocent ship neared the dark and decrepit Tattered Spire. As the ship was covered in a dark shadow, it was almost pitch-black on the ship except for a few lights. The large ship entered the small crevasse, and it docked quite loudly. A plank was dropped and the people went off.

"Just look at this place!" one of the loud men said as he stared at the bewildering surroundings. "We've done well casting our lot in with Lord Lucien. Whatever he's planning, me and Lil are gonna be set for life!" the people stood around, as the ships plank went back up and retreated to get more.

"Get moving!" one of the Spire Guards yelled, and Alex walked hurriedly next to Andrew and Sparrow. "I've been with my Lil thirteen years, been faithful the whole time," he reported to Sparrow, who seemed to be listening. "If you could see her, you'd understand why. Name's Bob, by the way." he was silent for a moment. _But only for a moment,_ Alex thought annoyed.

"What is that noise? I don't just hear it... I can feel it! This place feels... wrong."

"What is this place?"

"Six years I was a mason's apprentice. I sure never saw any building like this."

"How is this possible?"

"Old Kingdom engineering, I reckon. But then how's it come back now?"

From behind the three, another Spire Guard shouted, "Shut it!" the noisy men were quiet, and they neared where Lucien was, standing atop of a small podium over them. "The world outside these marvelous walls is a corrupt, rotting husk." Lucien began, as he put his hands behind his back in almost an aristocratic manner as he continued, "Reason is absent. Instead of order, there is only chaos. Chaos does not punish evil, nor does it reward righteousness. Chaos cuts innocent lives short- and we're to accept this as fate. I beg to differ. You stand in the center of a great instrument of change. With it, I shall remake the world. And my creation shall be unrecognizable in its perfection. But my will alone will not be sufficient for such an monumental task. It is only through your toil, through your labors, through your conviction that Albion will be transformed."

He stood back a bit, and seemed to answer everyone's question at the moment, "Do not fear the sound you hear, the throbbing you feel beneath your feet. These sensations will soon be familiar as your own heartbeat. And so long as your heart continues to beat, all that I require of you is obedience."

He held up a hand and seemed to wave it over the crowd. "Now... Sleep." And with no fault of their own, everyone that came on that boat fell asleep.

* * *

Beck's POV:  
_"This must be the creature that's controlling the fog and using it against you. Destroy it."_ Theresa ordered and since it was turned the other way, I gulped as it started to turn. It did, and screamed a terrible high-pitched scream.

I held out my sword steadily towards the banshee. _"The people you see, all the people you talk to, they are not real. You are alone in this universe, Rebecca. Terribly alone."_ she taunted and I shot at her angrily, "Shut up!" _"Even your companion isn't real, you will always be alone."_ Okay that's just _over the top._ "Well, madam banshee, you can now consider yourself _fucked_." I stated furiously, and held onto a four-star attack to get back at her, killing her instantly.

I pushed the hair out of my face and looked up and over to Rose. "...You don't believe what she said, did you, Beck?" I shook my head, even before she started talking, "No, no. Of course not. Can we continue?"

We continued our journey until we found yet another banshee. "Listen here, bud! If you even think about insulting me, I'll have your-!" I stopped when I realized it was staring straight at my Scottish companion.

_"Your boyfriend is cold and alone right now, Rose... Balverines will feast on his flesh."_ she narrowed her eyes and glared at the banshee. "Insult me, fine. Insult my boyfriend? Not fine." was all she said before she let all hell loose and defeated that banshee on her own.

I stood back a few feet in shock, staring at my panting friend. "It really got to you, didn't it?" "Don't be silly, Becky. I'm fine." I walked over to her and patted her back softly. We began to walk further, and I saw the red bridge. I used to think it was a small farm on a bridge, but now I knew better. It's been burnt and been through a lot.

As if on cue, Theresa said to us, _"This used to be Oakvale, though it has changed drastically since I saw it last,"_ Isn't that the truth? _"And that was a long time ago, it has seen many a cruel deed."_ Mhmm, and that evil deed lives in Bloodstone. And even though I knew every word of this, she still continued.  
_"Six hundred years ago, bandits attacked the village and burned it to the ground. The survivors rebuilt their lives, only to have it destoryed a second and final time. A new threat came from within, a reckless young villager made a deal with the forces of shadow; who took the lives of every resident as payment. All of his family, all of his friends... Everyone he loved. And now, the marsh has engulfed the villiage and Oakvale is nothing but a bitter memory."_  
I looked over to Rose, who was tearing up a bit. "Lighten up, Rosie. C'mon, it could be worse... Wait, Theresa, are you expecting that we'll actually go to Reaver _now_?" Theresa was silent for a moment. _"Perhaps, only you could know for sure. Salty Jack isn't going anywhere."_ I frowned silently and nodded.  
After a few rounds of hollowmen and balverines we reached a gate and walked through.

_"You're both making wonderful progress, you're about halfway through the marshes now. You'll be in Bloodstone before you know it."_ Well that's a relief, I needed to take a very big nap and I would not be sated until I did.

Defeating a headless hollowmen was as easy as it sounds. It can't see you so it kinda chases after your general direction, and luckily Rose and I have completely mastered tricking enemies by now.  
Further up the road, the two of us only faced a few more hollowmen which we were very excited about. And after that, we just walked until we reached Bloodstone.

* * *

Third Person POV:

In the third room of the second floor of the Spire, on the second last back mat, slept Alex. The beds near her were empty since they'd already woken Andrew and Sparrow up. A large Spire Guard walked over to her and she cracked one eye open and was commanded to stand up, "Morning, maggot. Welcome to the Spire. Hope you like it, because you're never leaving." the mentioned rolled her eyes silently and looked down to see she was dressed identically as the man before her.

A large, dark coat, same color in pants and huge boots she can probably fall down in. She also felt a cool draft on her head and noticed that they'd _completely shaved her head._ The only thing left was a band around her head, and a large 'necklace' around her neck. "Right now, you're in the barracks. You will eat and sleep here, and the rest of the time you will work, wherever the Commandant assigns you." the girl nodded. Before she got here she was super pumped about getting to have a military career, but now that she was here, she wasn't so sure.

"Your job is keeping the scum building this place in line, and otherwise doing whatever the Commandant tells you- _without_ question. When you receive an order, you will obey it _immediately._ Which bring me to that new piece of jewelry you've got. The collar is part of Lord Lucien's obedience program. The Commandant will..." he paused, searching his narrow mind for the correct word, "...explain it to you."

"Main thing is: do what you're told, and don't try taking the collar off. Because you can't. And the penalty for even trying is death. And not the quick and painless kind either. Now report to the Commandant." Happy he finally finished his stupid speech, Alex began walking. She walked out and one of the doors slid up which kinda freaked her out, not gonna lie.

Large Guard after another scary looking Guard who was totally staring at Alex, she began walking a bit faster to get out of the scrutiny of these /things/. She was stopped prematurely as she noticed one of the guards there, "Andrew?" "Hey, Alex! How are you settling in?" "Awfully... They shaved my head!" "It'll grow back..." the man replied encouragingly.

"Can you believe that they put me on guard duty on my first day? I guess I must've impressed someone..." Alex smiled as they started walking down the corridor, "Of course you did, you're you." Okay Alex, calm yourself you have a boyfriend. The end prisoner cage is what caught her attention. /Is that Garth?/ she thought to herself, and as if she wasn't paying attention to Andrew, Garth began speaking. "I don't know how you got here... but I know what you are. It doesn't matter. Your power will do you no good as long as you wear that collar. Be patient."

She stood back to hear Andrew ranting about Garth. "...Although he doesn't give me any trouble." Alex nodded soberly as he continued, "I'm glad he's quiet. Well, go report to the Commandant or whatever it is that you were doing." "Will do." she waved and continued on her way up a few staircases and another one of those scary doors came down from nowhere and dropped.

Alex stepped through and walked a bit forward to see a man facing away from her. His skin appeared to be blue, and he had spikes on his head. He turned swiftly, and reported smoothly in his deep voice, "I am the Commandant. You are recruit 274. That number is not random, it was assigned to you because I have broken 273 recruits before you. You are nothing more than the next link in the chain. You have been brought here to oversee the reconstruction of the Tattered Spire, and to serve Lucien as he sees fit. My job is to ensure the obedience of guards like you. You will do everything I tell you without question. Failure to obey will cause the device around your neck to activate. This is not a pleasant experience. You will lose your willpower, and your memories and experiences will be drained away. This will continue until you submit. Perhaps you believe you will resist; most do at first... a misguided sense of personal honor. You must decide: is your honor really that important to you?"

Glad yet another speech is over, Alex was ready to leave and do whatever she was told to do. However, she did pay attention to his speech. Her honor to herself is everything, and she will completely disregard what her best friend told her, and not obey the Commandant.

"Now: come here, obey me." Alex crossed her arms haughtily. The expression she wore spoke one thing: _make me._ She stood in her spot as the time ticked away. Then after 10 seconds passed, she felt it. Electricity spun through her as she was getting yelled at by Lucien. _"Obey! You have no choice!"_ she hopelessly gripped the collar to make it stop until she nearly choked under the assault.

"I said, come here. Obey me." The commandant repeated as the electricity stopped for only a second. She kept her spot as she panted for a breath. And another few seconds later, it repeated again. _"Obey! You have been given an order." _struggling futility, the girl held onto the collar in vain. "I have quelled more rebellious natures than yours."

And one final time, the collar zapped her. _"Obey! Do as you are commanded!"_ she pulled at the collar, and the Commandant chided, "You are losing so much... And for what?" after that, she fainted as more and more experience dropped around her.

* * *

Beck's POV:

About 15 hours later, we walked into Bloodstone, through a small cemetery. "The town center is over the next rise," Theresa explained and I nodded knowingly. We walked up and over... Well, you know... The next rise as she just said. What else would we cross, an ocean?

I interrupted Theresa as we made it over. "The largest house in Bloodstone- that'll be Reaver's. Though first we should really talk to Jack." my Scottish companion nodded, and we walked to the bar- The Leper's Arms if I recall correctly.

"It's not fair... It's not fair I tell ye..." the man muttered sadly, and turned to see Rose and I standing near him. "I saw him, it be true. With me own two peepers, I tells ye. They think old Jack is mad... But he's not." I sat back on one of the tables as Rose looked over at him as he was going to tell his story.

"Aarh! You two there, I have a tale for thee you'll scarcely credit, of legends and fast treasures and... ugh my throat is.. far too dry to go on." I motioned Rose to go get him a beer, and she stood up. "I'd love for you to finish your story, my friend will be back in just a second."

In a few seconds, Rose returned with a beer and handed it to him. He took a large sip and continued, "Ah, ha ha! Thank ye, it does me a world of good, that. Now, listen to Old Jack's story and be amazed." I put my chin in my palm excitedly and was ready to listen, "Aye, there I was, laid down unconscious on the beach, an empty bottle of fire-juice in my arms like some high-bosomed maiden, when I beheld his figure by a nearby cave. Captain Dread! So cold-hearted in life was he. I tell ye, he would strike his surname into your soul with nary a look. Why, I ran, swam and paddled as fast as I could for a restorative brew. But no man here will believe me."

He paused as he coughed a bit, and continued, "You'll prove me right, won't you? You'll prove Old Jack ain't tellin' no tales." I nodded. "We'd love to help. Challenge accepted." he nodded as he coughed a bit more. "Thank ye... Thank ye..." and with that, we left the bar to go buy a house first then we'd go out for Captain Dread. Mainly because it was only a little past 1 AM.

Rose and I picked a small house near the sea, picked our own beds. Set up stuff and made sure nobody could break in. After that, I started to take off my extra clothes, and noticed that I didn't have my jacket. "Um... Beck? What happened to your jacket?"

I looked up as if to look to a flashback, and remembered when Rose and I were in Wraithmarsh, we were near a pond. Rose looked over to me and even though three-fourths of all of Wraithmarsh is water, she was still being a baby and I took off my jacket and let her walk across. "I don't need my jacket... I'm fine." I just hope nothing bad happened to it. Then after that, we set ourselves to get to bed.

* * *

**A/N: NO JACKET REQUIRED. :3 I had to throw it in at the very end. Don't worry, I have my jacket somewhere with me so don't be all: SHE CAN'T BE A PROPER PIRATE IF SHE DOESN'T HAVE HER JACKET.**

**AWEITOAWJEIROAJW**  
**I've got it, no worries, guys~. But thanks, au revoir, mes amies!**  
**~Ray.**


	13. Hello I Must Be Going!

Third Person POV:  
Week 38:

Standing in a quiet corridor, Sparrow and Bob were having a small chat before they were split apart again. "I heard you've been resisting the commandant," he stated conversationally and the other nodded. "I wish I had your strength." Sparrow looked over to the cages to the right of her and frowned. "The Commandant made me torture a recruit this morning. He overhead the poor bastard saying he missed his family."

Sparrow nodded again, though she really didn't know. Her only family right now was Theresa, the four other Heroes and her dog. "I'm glad I don't have a family," he reported in a monotone, and Sparrow looked over to him and quirked a brow. When the man realized what he did he shook his head, "I-I'm sorry... I just had a strange... Maybe it's the collar, it's hard to think with all of these sounds." Sparrow shrugged in understanding until Bob repeated in almost the same way that Lucien described it when they came here, "I hardly notice it anymore... It's become as familiar as my own heartbeat."

From behind them a large guard walked over and yelled to the male, "You have orders to report to the barracks!" the other brought a hand up to salute the guard. "On my way, sir!" as Bob fled the area, the other guard turned to Sparrow, "Recruit 273, report to the detention center." "Yes, sir." she replied and followed suit of what Bob did. The three split ways and Sparrow began walking down the hallway and stopped at Garth's cell. He'd given her the same message he'd given Alex the first day.

"Be patient; time has little meaning here. This place is powerful, but it is only a shadow of what it will become. Can you hear it? It's the sound of our Will being sapped. I don't know when we'll be able to speak again. The Commandant has threatened to move me somewhere deeper within the Spire." Sparrow nodded and slowly walked away and over a few staircases to the detention center.

As she walked across, a man turned to her, "Ah, there you are. Stand here and guard these maggots until I get back. They're not allowed food though, so don't touch the controls- or you'll be sorry." the girl held up a two finger salute and the other guard left.

Looking around carefully, Sparrow pulled one of the levers back and immediately strong electricity ran down her back and around her body. She grabbed at the collar to loosen it up the tiniest bit. "Obey, you were ordered to withhold food." and yet again, as it released her, she went to another lever and yanked on it. The food dropped itself into the men's cages only Sparrow only had enough strength to get to three of them before she passed out from the pain.

* * *

Week 78:

_"Week 78_." Alex wrote down on an empty sheet of paper from a food box, and with a pencil she'd found on the ground as the other guards around her slept quietly. _"Sparrow, Andrew and I are doing a great job in resisting the Commandant. The only draw-backs I say are our memories being taken away. I clearly remember my brothers, and my parents. I remember Rebecca and Rose. But who was that other girl that was back in Albion? I wanna say Mallet. Well I hope Rebecca, Rose and Mallet are all right back there. I know they'll do just fine on their own. That's all for now until I find another sheet of paper. ~Alex."_ the stirrings of one mean guard beside her made Alex shove the supplies under her bunk and go to sleep.

* * *

Beck's POV:

After a small breakfast of some fruits and veggies Rose and I had leftover from a few days ago, we walked out of our little abode and went off to find the Sinkhole. On our way, there were a few obstacles in our way, which I slashed down so Rose could pass over it easily. And by this time, I may add, I'd found my jacket. It turns out I'd brushed it off and put it in my bag.

I coughed once before I took the brave steps inside with Rose following close behind me. We walked inside, and yet another 'dive' option was up. I didn't like it the last time I did it; why would I now? Rose went first for some reason, just to make sure it was safe. She splashed at the bottom. After she swam over a bit, I readied myself and jumped. When I reached the surface an angry voice called out to us.

_"Cursed be all ye who enter the domain of Captain Dread. The living ain't welcome in my crew_._"_ we swam to the shore, as Captain Dread released a disturbing laugh. We walked further and further, as Captain Dread kept talking. I mean, seriously dude, you're not that scary._ "Dread's treasure will bring ye a watery death. This cave shall be your grave."_ I rolled my eyes silently, and walked up a few staircases.

Rose and I walked into yet another cave, and through a door. We stepped inside and ghosts filled the room, the only problem is that we could clearly see them. I didn't want to. But after a few rounds of a bunch of fighting, it stopped. He laughed loudly and hoarsely,_ "Hahaha! Well, you're a live one, ain't ye? Well, I be a dead one."_ I shook my head, and Rose and I walked up a bit further. I remembered the switch to unlock the door being on the left of the room, I broke a few barrels and stomped on it. Then after that, the door opened. Up yet another staircase, we found what we were guessing was Captain Dread's room.

Going straight for the key on the right of his bed, we opened up the chest. Inside was a lever, which I gave to Rose to hold onto. We went back down the stairs and back outside to go put this where it needed to be.

I walked over to where the lever used to be and put it on, _"No! The Marianne is mine. Ye'll not take her from me!"_ Captain Dread cried in the background and I laughed. "You mean _used_ to be yours? Haha!" I pulled back on the lever, which raised the water level.

Rose and I looked over to our right to see the ship was up and we hopped aboard.

The only thing she didn't expect was more fighting.

Really, Rosie. What have we been doing the whole time we've been here?

"Welcome aboard the Marianne! You'll both make a fine addition to our crew," Captain Dread chuckled as Rose and I fought off ghost after ghost. During the whole fight, I looked over to Captain Dread from the corner of my eye. The only thing I noticed was how tall he was.  
I strictly remembered that Sam and Max in Fable III grew taller when they were ghosts when they drank beer. I'm not sure if it's the same for ol' Dread or not.  
With the last ghost gone, except for Dread of course, he came after us. I whacked him, shot at him, hit him and even flung a few spells at him until he was completely gone. Rose and I high-fived and looked down at the map he'd left for us.  
I took the helm of the ship, and the liberty to bring us to the island.

* * *

I took over the wheel for a second as Rose fixed a few loose knots._ "Je ne sais pas pourquoi je t'aime. Mais je suis prête à t'aimer quand même. Prince de la chance, la vie commence. Pour toi et moi."_ I sang quietly until I heard Rose come up behind me. "En Inglés, por favor?" I smiled quietly and repeated it in English.

_"I don't know when, I don't know how. But I know something's starting right now. Watch and you'll see, some day I'll be part of your world."_ and after I finished it, Rosie smiled from my side and sung it in Spanish after me. _"¿No sé qué hacer, cuándo será? Pero yo debo aquí, regresar. Siento que sí, puedo formar. Parte de él."_ I poked her cheek and saw we were docking. I jumped off excitedly and began to jump around. "We did it, we did it!" I even went down and made sand-angels.

"Wait, the map doesn't say where any of the treasure is!" Rose cried and stomped on the map. I sat up a bit to reassure my friend, "Don't worry I know where all of them are. Go into the ship over there, one should be at the end of it." my friend retrieved the map, and stuck it in one of her pockets and warily eyed the ship. "...Are you messing with me?"

I shook my head in reply. "Oh please, I've beaten this game so many times, dude. I know it like the back of my hand." I turned the back of my hand toward my face. "Oh, I didn't know that was there." I stated sarcastically and looked up to my Scottish companion. "Go." she stepped towards the boat, and walked inside. In a matter of minutes she returned with a large bag full of gold. _"¡Dios mío!_ Look at all of this, holy crap!" I laughed. "_Oh mon vache!_ Put it on the ship! We'll start a little pile~. Oh oh it might work well in the Captain's quarters, which we'll have to share, you know. Unless we get another one in there, but I'm not sure how that'll work."

My friend nodded, and lugged the gold to the ship and walked back out. She looked at me sitting in the sand with my bag of water I'd brought along. "Next?" "On the top half of the ship up there. You'll need to go around and jump off. See you in a bit." after that was said, I put my arms behind my head and laid back and took a small nap while my friend got half of the treasures.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, peeps! I SAW HIM, IT BE TRUE; WITH ME OWN TWO PEEPERS. I TELLS YE. Okay, I'm done. I NEED TO BE KICKIN' ASS. *Stephen Fry is somewhere in the background yelling 'KICKIN' ASS'***  
**Okay I'm done with that. Anyway, you can see Alex is having some memory problems. BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T LISTEN TO BECK, BUT WHATEVER. :( She didn't have a choice anyway, I wrote it. xD But anyway, that's all. I'm in a bit of pain right now in my tummy, and I hope it goes away. It started at 5 or so Saturday, so yeah it's 4 on Sunday now. :P The Spanish and French should be correct, I may have Erin check it since I only speak French and I haven't been in a Spanish class for over 5 years. .-. Seriously, I remember nothing at all. BOATING SCHOOL!? BUT I THOUGHT THIS WAS SPANISH CLASS!**  
**Translation bunny is back. :D**  
**French;**  
**Je ne sais pas pourquoi je t'aime. Mais je suis prête à t'aimer quand même. Prince de la chance, la vie commence. Pour toi et moi. = I don't know why I love you. But I'm ready to love you anyway. Lucky Prince, live begins for you and me.**  
**Oh mon vache= Oh my cow.**  
**Spanish;**  
**¿No sé qué hacer, cuándo será? Pero yo debo aquí, regresar. Siento que sí, puedo formar. Parte de él. = I do not know what to do, when? But I must here return. I feel that, yes, I can be part of it.**  
**En Inglés, por favor? = In English, please?**  
**¡Dios mío!= OMG!**  
**But yeah that's all. ^-^ Hopefully Erin will read this tomorrow since we're gonna do something! :D That is if whatever I have isn't serious, 'cause it shouldn't be or that would totally suck. Thankies, au revoir mes amies! :)**  
**~Ray.**


	14. Commandant say what?

Third Person POV:  
**Week 102:**

Whatever dark and decrepit corner of the Spire Alex was forced into, she always made the best of it.  
She'd always be excited when she found a new writing utensil and extra sheet of paper. The paper would soon be filled with adventures she and Sparrow did that day, and could be quite extensive and detailed, something the girl is used to.

At this point in time, she was going to go visit Andrew, wherever he is. She'd gotten bored of watching the 18th floor's west wing, and didn't want to torture the recruits (like she was ordered earlier.)  
Alex secretly gave one man she saw on the way here some food, she made her way to the normal corridor she'd normally go down to see the Commandant. She strolled in as she normally did.

Loud and uninviting.

"Hey, peasants!" she exclaimed as she walked in and waved to a few guards who sneered at the oncoming girl interrupting their conversations.

_[I got my eyes on you~. You're everything that I see~- /shot]_

She passed one man's cage and winked, as she casually pulled down the lever to feed him, the other guards gawking at her. Before she was shocked, she responded, "The Commandant says this one is good and I can feed him!" she awaited the shock, but it never came.

She passed the other guards, with a take-that-stupid-guards look, and walked over to Garth. She gave him a small smile of recognition, and continued on. She bumped into a few guards as she passed the stairs, only bugging them beyond belief.

She didn't care.

It was hilarious- they couldn't do a single thing to her.

She's been listening to the Commandant for the past few weeks. (Though absolutely against her will.) She hadn't tortured anyone, and the Commandant left that to the other guards with more 'will'. Then she threatened him that she has will and she'll shove this stupid collar up where the sun doesn't shine.

Which actually earned her a week in bed after being shocked so much.

So she'd learned to cool her temper the smallest bit around the Commandant, and only the Commandant. Really, like she'd be nice to anyone else?

She walked into the Commandant's room, all ready and reporting for duty. "Ja, mein führer?" she asked, stepping near the stairs. The Commandant ignored the German, and inquired, "Why are you not guarding the 18th floor west wing?" she shrugged. "It got boring. There's nobody up there and it's cold and lonely."

And then in a flash of yelling and a few shock rounds, Alex found herself back in the 18th floor west wing.

She frowned as she had her arms crossed. She stomped her feet as she looked out in boredom at nothing. Like she said, there was absolutely nothing up here, and she was lonely and there was never anything to do. What she'd do right now to play Pokémon. It's been a few months since she's been at home, and her possessions were all with Theresa in the Guild. But she was just so _bored_ up here.  
The door opened behind her and she turned, waiting to see another guard- or perhaps a prisoner being relocated. But what she didn't expect to see was Andrew. She smiled as she walked over. "The Commandant thought it'd be better if two guards were up here," he stated, as he made it over to her. "Well that's a good thing." she replied with a smile as the two surveyed the area. "Anyone follow you up?" she continued, leaning against a post. He shook his head in reply. "Nope, there aren't any guards for another two floors down."

Alex smiled as Andrew pulled out the playing cards and the two set themselves up on the floor. They always did this when they had nothing to do, they'd play a small card game until other guards came up to take over for them. "Got any ones?" Alex asked, and the later went through his cards. "Go fish." the girl fished through the cards, picking out one as the other's turn began.

* * *

Beck's POV:

I stood on the island, picking up three more treasure chests. Almost getting us up to our number. I recall there being only two left, the last two for me of course. I had to swim, paddle and everything just to get these few treasures back up to our ship. It was really exhausting, I'll be honest.

I sighed, eventually just giving the treasures at Rose, who took them to the boat. I got the very last one, lugging it across the sand and throwing it up the boat. The two of us set up the Captain's quarters happily, I took half and Rose took the other half. We were going to split it until we could get a second one put in. There was a hatch that led down to where the other rooms were for the crew members. That's exactly what we needed right now. A crew.

After we get back to Bloodstone, of course.

* * *

Third Person POV:  
**Week 138:**

Sparrow sat on the ground in the normal corridor, yawning occasionally. She hadn't gotten much sleep. It seemed whenever she was getting off duty, another guard had her put back on duty, which is just too much for the Hero. As she started to doze off, a guard walked over to her, "The Commandant wants to see you," he stated, and walked away right after.

Sparrow rolled her eyes heavily and stood up quietly and yawned again. "...Of course he does." she shuffled across the floor, stopping at Garth's cage. "Don't let them break your will," he advised and the girl nodded and pressed on to the Commandant's. She stepped into the room, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, until the Commandant turned from his spot at the top of the stairs. "I _will_ make you obey!" the mentioned shook her head in a defying manner. "Oh _please_." Sparrow murmured, until the Commandant walked down the steps and to Sparrow's left. "I believe you know this man."

That turned Sparrow's attention to one of horror and disgust. "Guard 268. I order you to be quiet!" Immediately on instinct, she rushed over to Bob's side. "268, shut your mouth!" he kept mumbling quietly, and as her eyes started to water, "Those who do not obey, can be made to. But those who cannot obey are useless." she heard the Commandant unsheathe a sword from behind her as he encouraged her to take it. "Take the sword." Sparrow reached out to grasp the Master Cutlass in two of her hands.

"Now, kill him!" Bob, from the floor yelled, "No! I'll obey.. I'll work harder." Sparrow looked from the heap on the floor to the Commandant. She narrowed her eyes and slashed at the Commandant. Immediately, she was shocked. "_Obey! You must kill without mercy!_" Lucien commanded as Sparrow tried to pull on the collar, it doing no good as it normally does. "This _halfwit_ is beyond repair," the Commandant continued as Sparrow was given some breathing room, and in that time she hit the Commandant again.

"_Obey_!" Lucien ordered, but Sparrow shook her head defiantly, as she took the hits for Bob, not at all sorry. _"This man must die!"_ "Everyone has their breaking point; and I _will_ find yours." the Commandant reported, as the girl hit him one last time. _"Obey, your orders are to kill him."_ angrily, the Commandant gave up on her as she fell to the floor trying to breath. From what she could see from kneeling on the floor, the Commandant released a spell pointed towards Bob, effectively killing the man. Sparrow reached out for him, only to hit the cold, hard ground.

* * *

Beck's POV:

A half hour later, every single last coin was in our possession on the ship. The two of us made the short trip back to Bloodstone- via me. Actually, steering a boat is easier than I thought. As we docked, Salty Jack stood next to our port. We stepped off and the man greeted us.

"You found the old dead seadog! Aye, I knew you would, lassies." we smiled in return as he continued, "Finished him off for good! And stole his ship, too!" we nodded and he stepped near our ship as he admired it, "The Marianne. Never thought I'd see her and count meself living."

Me either, Salty. Me either. "Aye... You'll both be legends among pirates for this, you will. And you've proved Salty Jack ain't gone soft in the head yet. I can go back to my port without fear of ridicule. I thank ye." "It was no problem at all," Rose replied for me, and we gave the man a firm handshake, as he left.

I jumped up in the air, as Rose and I hugged in celebration. We chanted 'we did it, we did it'! as loud as we could, not caring if anyone near the docks could hear us.

We celebrated all the way to the inn, where I announced, "Hey, everyone! Who wants to be a part of my crew?" when only a few people responded, I walked over to the bartender, "With drinks on me?" then the whole bar stood up to cheer. Over the next few weeks, Rose and I held what we called 'auditions' to be a part of our crew.

We picked one woman named Bess, she seemed kind of nice until you get her angry- then it got really ugly. Next was a man named Jacob, a Salty Morgan [_All of these salty sea dogs /shot again]_, Johnny (Rose and I said we would call him Depp just for the fun of it.), Jack, Delaney, Henry and a Mister Fredericks.

We only picked a few more until we felt like we were _really_ copying _Pirates of the Caribbean_. I smiled as the boat filled up with just enough people to run the ship. "...Before we set sail," I stated as I lined them up. "I have a business meeting to attend to. One thing, I do _not_ like people that don't listen. Ask my pal Rosie over there."

The mentioned waved, not even strict or anything. I give her credit, she can be serious sometimes, but it's extremely rare. "You may call me Captain Hackett, and she is Captain Finn. Got it?" Rose gave me a questioning look, "But my last name is Finnle-" I silenced her and ushered the crew to get to work, you maggots, and stepped off to the Captain's quarters. "You shall be Captain Finn, Finnley is Scottish and they don't like the Scottish here, sweetheart." the girl frowned. "All right. My last name was originally Finn anyway, they just added it... I'm going to go check on the crew!" she reported, and saluted as she left.

I was left alone, completely confused. So her last name actually _was_ Finn? Maybe she's related to Ben? I shook my head as I put my jacket back on and kicked at my boots to take off extra sand. I'm not going to think about this. I'm going to go out and celebrate with my crew.

* * *

It'd been four months since we'd gotten the ship and began sailing. At this exact moment, I was playing cards with Depp in the Leper's Arms, and I'd just won. Rose stopped my celebration as she reminded me I still have to meet Reaver. I frowned in reply, not at all wanting to meet the pirate.

It was only 12 PM when she said that, and I know I couldn't put it off for much longer, so after I went to get my hair fixed (not washing it for so long does so much damage, believe me.) and Rose pushed me up to the doors of the Bloodstone mansion. I sighed and walked up the steps, not at all ready.

"Oi love, you got business with Reaver?" the man out front, whom I recall was called Normon stated. He looked me up and down as to survey if I'm correctly at the right house. "He's through the back." I nodded as I opened the door and walked into the house.

Well.

Crap.

* * *

**A/N: Hey there! I took a needed break since I had to go back to school and since I was soo busy for new year's (as if; I stayed home and ate ice cream and cried). I concluded that four months have passed with Rose and Beck and 31 with Sparrow and Alex.**

**Not good.**

**Not good at all.**

**I'll just have to write a bunch for Sparrow and Alex, slow them down and speed Beck and Rose's up! :D**

**Translation bunny:**

**German;**

**Ja mein führer- Yes, my leader?**

**That's all! Au revoir, mes amies!**

**~Ray.**


End file.
